The Story of Zeik and Ashe: A Spyro Alternate FF
by lk12lk21
Summary: Instead of Spyro and Cynder saving the world, Zeik and Ashe do, and they meet danger and discovery at every turn. It may seem like I'm re-writing the Spyro trilogy, but it is going to go somewhere else, I promise. My first ff, please comment and review.
1. Chapter 1: Character profiles UPDATED!

Chapter 1: Character Descriptions in Order of Appearance

**A/N: I own the first two and last characters in this list; all others are credited to the developers of The Legend of Spyro trilogy.**

Zeik:

Male, hazel main body scale color, elements: earth, pure elements: light and shadow, eye color is gold, underside of wings and stomach scales are maroon-type hue, horns are in a V shape with the open end of the V facing the tail, tail is semi-long and has spikes on the end, elongated skull, body style is sleek and streamlined, average wingspan, muscular legs, muscular chest, age 15-16.

Ashe:

Female, midnight-blue main body scale color, elements: wind, pure elements: time, eye color is aquamarine, underside of wings and stomach scales are grayish-blue, horns run perpendicular to the spine and along the ridge of the skull, tail is very long and whip-like with a crescent blade at the end, semi-elongated skull frame, body style is slender yet curvy, very large wingspan due to control of wind, dainty legs, feminine chest, age 14-15.

Terrador:

Male, most of the other information you probably already know, elements: earth, pure elements: wind, age: 250.

The Chronicler:

Male, most of the other information you probably already know, elements: telekinesis, pure elements: time, age: unknown.

Malefor:

Male, most of the other information you probably already know, elements: fire; ice; earth; electricity; wind; and convexity, pure elements: elemental; darkness; poison; and fear, age: 150.

Satya:

Female, sea foam-green main body scale color, elements: telekinesis, pure elements: time, eye color is sapphire, underside of wings and stomach are fire-red, has no horns, red medium-length fringe runs from just behind eye ridges to end of tail, tail is long and slender with a V-shaped tail fan at the end, small elongated skull frame with short thin snout, body style is slender hourglass with slender waist and slender hips, semi-large wingspan, long slender legs, predominant feminine chest, wears constantly changing bindi made of natural things just between her eye ridges, age 15-16.

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	2. Chapter 2: Awaking UPDATED!

Chapter 2: Awaking (UPDATED!)

He woke up from his dream smiling. The dream had been about his best friend, Ashe. Yawning, Zeik scratched behind his ear with a claw. He tried to fall back asleep, wanting badly to go back to dreamland where he could be with Ashe, but he was unsuccessful in his attempt. He yawned again, and then grumbled out,

"Why do mornings have to ruin sleeping?"

He waited a long while for an answer, then it occurred to him that nobody was going to answer. Chuckling at his stupidity, he decided it was time to get up. He groaned and uncurled himself, joints creaking because of his uncomfortable bed. As he stood up, Zeik made a mental note to ask Terrador for a better bed. Zeik stretched and shivered, causing his stone bed to crack. Zeik accessed the damage and saw that he had split his bed all the way through. He then said,

"Dammit, now I NEED to ask Terrador to make me a new bed."

Deciding there was nothing he could do about it, Zeik went on with his morning routine. He walked over to the silver plate he used to look at himself. He smiled exaggeratedly, checking his teeth. They had gotten much sharper over the past month, and Zeik was waiting for this. He would soon be an adult, he was already 5 feet long, not counting his tail. Zeik's mood was lifted as he thought about becoming an adult. He brushed his teeth, smoothed his scales, and then went to empty his bladder.

After doing all that, Zeik decided to go to get some fresh air. He walked over to his balcony, unsheathed claws clicking slightly with each step, and looked out the opening. Zeik took a deep breath of the morning air, it was warmer than it usually was. Then he sighed peacefully.

"I can't wait for training today," he said, "I get to train with Ashe."

Zeik's stomach then growled, reminding him that he was hungry. So he left his room and walked off to eat breakfast, clicking the whole way. As he entered the Main Hall, Zeik glanced at the sundial. Thinking he saw something, he stopped and then looked at it again, his eyes widening in horror. It was 10:00 a.m., he had overslept!

"Oh no! I'm gonna be late for training!"

* * *

A/N: Hi, the author speaking, from now on, this will be my only A/N, unless the need is there. This will be my signature: kklk

A/N: please don't ask me what my signature means, it is a LOOOOOOOOOONNNG story.

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	3. Chapter 3: Distracted UPDATED!

Chapter 3: Distracted

_Ahh, a nice, quiet morning,_ I said to myself, silently walking along, _I'm so glad I learned how to walk without my claws clicking; the walk is so much nicer._ I turned into the training room hallway, and I smelled clean floors. _Huh, the moles must have cleaned the floors, _I said, noticing that the floor was wet. As I continued on, I felt a gnawing feeling at the back of my mind.I stopped and took a deep breath,_ this is the place where I lost control of my powers, _I said to myself, feeling the gnawing slink away. I shook my head, and continued walking. Soon, I came to the door I was looking for, beyond which lay the room where my training was to be held today. I took a deep breath, and summoned a small gust of wind to open the door. I smirked, enjoying the feeling of using my powers for trivial tasks. With a newfound happiness, I entered the room.

"Bonus," I said out loud, "early." I had arrived at training with plenty of time to spare. Seeing nobody around, I allowed my thoughts to drift to the dream I had last night. It was about Zeik, the one dragon who I could not get out of my mind. I began to wonder how I was going to tell him my secret; that I loved him.

"Good morning, Ashe," said a deep voice. Caught off guard by the mystery voice, I flew up and screamed.

"AHHH!" I screeched, frantically searching for the source of the mystery voice. Almost instantly, I found it. "TERRADOR!" I hollered, "What did I tell you about sneaking up on me like that?" I closed my wings, and settled back down to the ground.

"But I didn't sneak up on you, "Terrador said calmly, "I walked right past you." He looked at me, clearly puzzled at what I said. I too, was puzzled, but at what he had said.

"…You…you did?" I stammered, still a little jumpy from the startle. "Huh, that's strange; I didn't see you…at least…" I trailed off, beginning to go back to my thoughts.

"…Are you okay, Ashe?" asked Terrador, "you haven't been very attentive the last couple of training sessions. You have actually seemed very distracted of late." He was obviously concerned about the way I had reacted.

"Yah, I'm fine," I began, "I've just…I haven't been sleeping well…yah, that's it." I slapped myself inwardly. _THAT was convincing,_ I said to myself_, hey, while you're at it, why don't you tell him that Zeik is your brother, and that you're the Dark Master, you know, the one that we KILLED. You are the worst liar,_ I told myself, hoping that Terrador would buy it.

"Okay," Terrador said with an unsure look on his face, "if you say so. Just remember, I'm always here if you need me, always." With that, he looked directly into my eyes, as if trying to tell me something. Whatever it was, I didn't catch it.

"Suuure, whatever you say," I said, doubtful and a little uneasy from the comment Terrador just made. _What did he mean by that?_ I asked myself, not expecting an answer. He sighed, annoyed by what I just said.

"What did I say about calling me that?" asked Terrador, I was ready; I knew what was coming next, "You -"

"Don't have to call me that unless the other Guardians are present," Terrador and I said.

"I know!" I exclaimed, not missing a beat, "You tell me every time I make that mistake." Secretly, I enjoyed making Terrador squirm by annoying him like that.

"I know you know," sighed Terrador, "I'm just making sure you get it." This was the only part about teasing him that got really old, when he reminded me of his rule.

"Okay, I get it now," I said, my thoughts travelling back to Zeik. Thinking of him made me look around for him. _Where is he?_ I asked myself, going over the possible reasons for him being late. He was never late. I was oblivious to Terrador, who was still talking.

"Good," he spoke, "now, are you sure that you don't want to talk about whatever is bothering you?" he asked. I still wasn't paying attention, so I didn't hear him.

"………"

"Ashe?" Terrador asked, louder than before.

"Huh?" I started, being torn out of my thoughts. I shook my head to clear my mind. "What did you ask me?" I said, receiving an annoyed stare from Terrador. He sighed in response to my question.

"I said:" he began, "are you sure you don't want to talk about what has been bothering you?" He finished repeating himself, seeming a bit aggravated at being ignored.

"Oooh. No, I'm sure I don't want to talk about it." I told him, receiving an unsure look. He still didn't seem convinced of my reason. I laughed nervously, wishing the subject would change soon.

"Okay," Terrador said, "I'll leave it alone, for now." I knew that this would come up again, I just wished for it to be much later. "Now, where could that annoying dragon you call 'friend' be?" questioned Terrador, looking around. I was surprised by the subject change. I composed myself, and looked around myself.

"I haven't the…" I started.

"I'm coming! I'm coming! Wait for m…WOOOAAAH!"

CRASH!

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	4. Chapter 4: A Moment of Fail UPDATED!

Chapter 4: A Moment of Fail

CLANG! CLANG! THUMP!

"OWOWOWOWOW!" yelled Zeik. Terrador and I sighed collectively, being fully aware of what had just happened. I looked up at Terrador, trying not to giggle.

"I better go check on Zeik," I said, "he might have hurt himself this time." I saw a smile creep across Terrador's face when I said 'this time', because we both knew that this was not the first time Zeik had failed outright.

"Yes, you probably should," agreed Terrador, now trying just as hard to not laugh. I didn't really want to go again; this was the third time this week.

"Yah," I began, "I probably should." I didn't move, and then I sensed Terrador moving his legs further apart. He was readying a friendly attack to make me go. Not wanting to be hit, I ran, leaving a small gust in my wake.

I left the room and began looking for Zeik. I soon found him. He was sprawled rather comically inside a supply closet. Apparently, he had not noticed the wet floor and slipped, sliding into the mole's cleaning closet. He had a bucket and a mop over his head, with the strands covering his eyes. Looking at him, he looked like an old dragon, and it was all I could do not to laugh at him.

"Hey, super-genius, did you notice the water on the floor?" I asked him. I knew the answer, but still, just for laughs…

"Hehe, not really," said Zeik, his voice a little muffled due to the bucket over his head. I almost laughed when he spoke, but I held my composure.

"Here, take my paw," I said, "I'll help you up." I extended my paw, balancing on three legs, and grabbed his paw. I was glad he had a bucket over his head; I was blushing from holding his paw. He struggled to his feet, and stuff was falling as he moved.

"Thanks, Ashe." Zeik said, head still covered by a bucket. I took this as a perfect opportunity to get rid of the blush by teasing him. I began my assault.

"You're welcome, Zeikie." I said mockingly.

"Heeey!" whined Zeik, "I told you not to call me that! You know it embarrasses me." Even though he had a mop and the bucket on his head, I could see him blushing.

"Yah, I know," I told him, my voice laced heavily with triumph, "that's why I called you that." I saw him get a bit unhappy, so to stop that progression, I sighed heavily. "You know, Zeik," I began, "taking that mop and bucket off your head would probably help you see a LOT better." I saw that my change had hit its mark, he started to lighten up. I chuckled as I looked at him.

"Oh yah, haha, you may be right," Zeik acknowledged, reaching up and removing the bucket. As he removed the mop, I saw his eyes, his beautiful eyes, and sighed. _Oh, Zeik,_ I thought, _how I wish I could just admit that I like you, especially your eyes. I could get lost in those beautiful pools of gold. I…_ shaking my head, I stopped that train of thought. I looked at him, and sighed.

"There, that's better," I said, "now I can see you when I talk to you." He looked up at me, looked into my eyes, and then turned away, blushing profusely. I laughed at him.

"Oh, be quiet, Ashe." Zeik said, annoyed, but I could still see that he was happy. We began to walk back to the training room, and I couldn't stop smiling.

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	5. Chapter 5: Assignment UPDATED!

Chapter 5: Assignment

Zeik and I entered the room, still smiling. I slowed down, falling behind him, and my eyes began to wander. My eyes traveled all the way from the back of his head to the base of his tail, admiring his body, and then I shook my head. _What is with me today?_ I asked myself. I looked away, and I almost walked into Terrador.

"Ahh, there you both are," he said, "I was beginning to wonder if you had abandoned me." He shot me a 'you better not have messed around' look. I averted his gaze.

"No!" Zeik exclaimed, "Terrador, you know that I would never do that, I have too much fun during training." As he said that, he bounced a bit, not realizing how strange he looked doing so.

"Yah, I noticed," mumbled Terrador under his breath. He had disliked Zeik for a while, ever since he had failed at completing his first earth bomb, and wound up blowing up the training room. This was the first time in a while Zeik was allowed to train inside.

"What did you say?" asked Zeik.

"It is nothing of your concern. Now that you are both here, let me tell you what we are doing for today," Terrador announced.

"Yesssss!" exploded Zeik. "So what are we doing today? Fighting evil minions, saving citizens from burning cities, *gasp* maybe we can go beat up the evil wolf rebels on the other side of the valley!" he exclaimed, getting more and more excited with each word. The gnawing feeling came back.

"Zeik?" I asked, in as nice a tone as I could manage.

"Yah, Ashe?" said Zeik, smiling hugely.

"You really need to learn how to shut the hell up sometimes," I said blatantly. _Oooh, I'm so going to regret that,_ I thought.

"Ashe! We do NOT use that kind of language around here!" scolded Terrador. I flinched at his anger, and I slowly looked up at him. He was furious.

"Oops, sorry," I said. I looked over at Zeik, he looked hurt. Instantly, I felt bad. _Oh, great,_ I thought,_ now I've made him sad. Some friend you are. Is that how you are going to tell him that you lo_…? I stopped that train of thought, again.

"*sigh* very well. Back on topic. Today, you will be working on mastering your pure elements," said Terrador. I saw him brace for the outburst, but none came. My mind rapidly changed gears as I heard his assignment. I had always had issues with my pure element of time; it had always been a little screwy. I looked over at Zeik, admiring the look on his face. His eyes were lit up, literally, since his pure element was light, and he had a huge smile that stretched across his face. Terrador had relaxed, but it was too soon.

"Cool!" burst out Zeik, "I finally get to work on controlling light!" He jumped up, took flight, and forgot that he was inside.

CRASH!

"I'm okay!" said Zeik, "I'm okay, I broke the fall with my face." I rolled my eyes; this was the fourth time this week. It was a new personal record, as far as I could see. If he kept this up, he could be the champion of failing.

"And I get to learn how to control time," I said, just a little bit of sass in my voice, "but…Terrador, how do you know how to control light and time?" This made Zeik stop in his tracks, from what I could see he was worried that he wouldn't be able to master light.

"I don't know how, Ashe. But I know someone who does." Terrador said confidently.

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	6. Chapter 6: Ashe's Untamed Thoughts

Chapter 6: Ashe's Untamed Thoughts

Looking over to Zeik, I saw that his face had taken on an intrigued look, as though he had suddenly discovered a loose scale that he hadn't known he had.

"Ooooo, who is it?" he asked, giving Terrador his full attention for the time being, "Is it someone we know?"

"Well, Ashe knows who it is," spoke Terrador, "but I'm not entirely sure that you do, Zeik." He walked over to me, staring at me intently, as if trying to look into my thoughts.

"I do?" I stupidly asked. I didn't know any dragons that could control time that lived in the Temple, let alone both light AND time. It worried me that Terrador said that I knew this dragon, since I had no recollection of ever meeting any dragon from outside of the Temple.

"Yes, Ashe, you do," reassured Terrador, "as a matter of fact, you've met him a few times." He looked at me again as he said this, and then looked over to Zeik. He was being, well, being Zeik.

"Oh, okay," I said, trying desperately not to laugh at Terrador's expression as he watched my friend. Zeik had transformed into a boulder, and was presently rolling around in a circle. Terrador shook his head in a disapproving manner and stomped the ground, causing a rock pillar to shoot up from underneath Zeik, sending him skyward.

"AHHHHH!" wailed Zeik, still in the air. Then, a loud THUMP sounded as he impacted the ground. He struggled to his feet. "Oww," he said, rubbing the back of his neck, "that was my neck you very nicely impaled, Terrador." Terrador chuckled, obviously entertained by sending Zeik skyward.

"Good, builds character. Now that I have your attention, I must go and get your teacher for today," said Terrador, "I will be going now. Behave while I'm gone." Terrador then left, leaving me and Zeik alone.

"Bye," sounded Zeik's voice, now with a distracted inflection, "don't hurry back."

I looked over to him to see what had distracted him THIS time, and chuckled. He was being typical Zeik. He had discovered a small dragonfly that had passed by his vision. He was now chasing it around the room, jumping up to try and catch it. I sighed inwardly, admiring the display.

_Gosh, he looks just like he did when we first met; playful, rowdy, and… cute. WOAH, back up there, Ashe, did you just say he looked cute? I thought I told you to keep your feelings where they belong? _I shook my head, trying to clear that thought from my head. My cheeks felt hot as I blushed profusely, remembering how I felt about Zeik. I mean, just his name, gosh, it was like…like…wait, where was he?

"Zeik?" I asked timidly, scanning around the room. He seemed to have totally disappeared. I thought he was playing hide and seek, so I started to go search for him when…

"Yes?" said a seductive voice from behind me.

"YIKES!" I screamed, jumping up and flapping my large wings, staying airborne. "Zeik!" I whined, "you KNOW how much I hate being snuck up on!"

"Hahahahahaha!" laughed Zeik, practically rolling on the floor, "YOU SHOULD HAVE SEEN YOUR FACE! IT WAS SOOO FUNNY!" He then seemed to recall the look on my face, and howled again. I let Zeik have his fun, slowly settling my feet down onto the floor. I was annoyed with him, as he was now literally rolling on the floor, laughing.

This went on for several moments. Zeik started to go red in the face, so I spoke up.

"Zeik," I cautioned, "you're gonna make yourself hurl." He ignored me, and continued laughing. "Ok, you can stop laughing now," I said, my annoyance with him now audible in my voice. Still he ignored me, and tears were now visible in his eyes. "Please, Zeik, please stop laughing. Zeik," I growled, my anger increasing, "please don't push me. You know how easily I get angry." _Oh no, I can feel it, the evil Ashe is coming _back, I said inwardly. "Zeik," came the now audibly angry sound of my voice, "you're really pissing me off. Stop. Laughing." Something inside me snapped, and all my anger was released in a torrent of stormy wind. "ZEIK!" I exploded, the wind howling, blowing all sorts of debris around the room. Zeik had stopped laughing and was now cowering in fear. _Kill him, he deserves it_, came the evil voice inside of my head, _No! he is my friend_, I retorted.

"A-A-Ashe," came Zeik's voice, now laced with fear, "i-i-it's me, Zeik. Please don't do this to me. I-I-I-I love you." He then stared into my eyes, despite his fear, and a single tear rolled down his cheek. I saw this, and I felt my anger subside. I could see clearly now, and the wind died down. As soon as I felt the anger completely go away, I collapsed onto Zeik's awaiting torso.

"I-I'm so sorry, Zeik," I sobbed out, "I-I-I couldn't control myself, I was just so angry." I cried more, and Zeik just stood there and comforted me.

"Shhhhh, it's ok," Zeik said softly, "I'm here now. There is no more reason to be afraid." Then, he did something that made me blush, he draped his wing over my body. _I wish we could stay like this forever,_ I said to myself, _just me and Zeik, and the world would just disappear._

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	7. Chapter 7: The Chronicler and Terrador

Chapter 7: The Chronicler and Terrador

** Beginning of Terrador's POV **

I left the room, leaving Zeik and Ashe alone. _Gee, _I said to myself, _I hope they don't mess around while I'm gone._ I really hoped that they wouldn't, but I knew better, and that they would probably mess around anyways. I sighed heavily, thinking of my daughter and how proud I was of her. _If only I could tell her, _I thought, _and then we would be a family again. _I often wondered how a family would feel like, just me, her, and maybe another dragoness. _You twit, _I said to myself, _you know that Ashe is the only dragoness in the temple, ever since Ember went insane and went to challenge the Dark Master alone, and we never saw her again. _I had gotten totally sidetracked, and I continued on to get the Chronicler, their teacher for today. I finally reached the place where we were meeting.

"It's about time you got here," spoke a very wise voice, "my old friend." I smiled, since I had long ago stopped being surprised when he popped out from nowhere. He stepped out from behind the grove of trees where he was hiding.

"Ahhh, it's good to see you again, Chronicler," I happily said to him, "It has truly been too long since last we met." I had always savored these meetings, as I had really like being around such a wise dragon. Hopefully, he would be able to stay for a little while longer than the brief meetings that always occur.

"Indeed it has, friend," said The Chronicler, "indeed it has. So, how are the two doing? All is well, I assume?" He suppressed a laugh, and looked at me, waiting for my response. I grinned at him.

"You know darn well how they have been, Chronicler," I said with mock anger, "I know you know, since you can, and have been, watching them both. You have been ever since their eggs were lain." This discussion had been repeated with each meeting we had. He had apparently enjoyed joking around with me. I remembered a dream I had a little while ago, and then immediately dismissed the memory, knowing full well that it would never happen. He smiled at me, a bit differently than usual, and I looked away and blushed, hoping that he wasn't reading my mind.

"Indeed I have, I have been watching over them," said the Chronicler, "and it is your d…"

"DON'T, say that," I fumed, "I have dismissed all opportunities of that ever happening." I hung my head, wishing that I hadn't yelled at him. "I apologize, friend," I said, voice full of sorrow, "I just have been aggravated at myself for a while." I suddenly felt the scales of the back of my neck prickle, and I looked behind me. The Chronicler was standing within inches of me, looking deep into my eyes. He had a worried look on his face.

"Quickly," he said quietly, "we must go. Ashe is losing control, it won't be long before she is totally consumed by her corrupt mind." My eyes widened, totally horrified at what might become of her if she was consumed, and I nodded my head in agreement. "GO!" he yelled, voice laced with fear, "quick, before it's too late. I will meet you there." With that, he turned, and vanished into the trees. I watched as he left, staring at the spot where he disappeared. Suddenly, I remembered.

"Ashe!" I took flight, wings beating faster than they had ever gone before. I set my sights on the speck that was the temple, and rushed, worrying about Ashe, and Zeik. My heart was pounding so hard, I could hear it in my ears. I pushed on, urging my ancient, underused wings to go faster, heart pounding. I was deafened; I couldn't hear anything else but the BA-DOOMPH, BA-DOOMPH of my heart.

I saw the temple grow in size as I got ever closer, wishing, hoping, praying that I wasn't too late. _Come on, Ashe, _I thought, _just hold on a bit longer._ The training room where they were was now in view, and I felt myself slow down. I had come across wind interference, and I flapped harder. The pace was agonizingly slow, and I was getting tired. _No,_ I said to myself sternly, _not on my watch. _I felt a power that I had not felt in a long time stir inside of me, and I pushed on. _I…will…make…it, _I told myself, _I…must…make…it._ The power grew, and I still pushed on, not giving up. _I…will…I…will, _I continued to tell myself, _I……..WILL MAKE IT! _

"AAAASSSSSHHHHEE!" I screamed out loud. I felt the power engulf me, and the wind was suddenly launching me forward. I had never felt this kind of speed, not in my entire life. I had re-awoken my pure element; wind. I used my newly awakened powers to propel me towards the room, refusing to be too late. The training room window got closer, as I rapidly closed the distance between me and it.

The wind I had only moments ago been fighting, suddenly died down, and I feared for the worst. Hoping that I could still stop her, I stopped flapping, tucked my wings in close to my body, and shot forward with a blast of air, leaving the trees underneath me naked. I was going mind-bogglingly fast, my eyes were watering, and I felt loose scales fling off from the force behind my flight. I was only a couple hundred feet from the window, and it was closing incredibly fast. I approached the window, opened my wings to slow my approach down, and then screamed in pain.

** End of Terrador's POV **

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	8. Chapter 8: Meeting the Teacher

Chapter 8: Meeting the Teacher

**A/N: Sorry for the delay, I had a small bout of writer's block.**

** Back to Ashe's POV **

I was still shaken up, and I had collapsed, to which Zeik promptly reacted by catching me with a paw. He then laid me down, and settled down next to me. He looked down at me, smiling, and I blushed, hating my clumsiness. He chuckled, and laid his tail next to mine. Having seen my opportunity, I made the first move and moved mine so it was on top of his. He then entwined his with mine and I did the same, making sure the sharp side of my tail blade was facing out. I took a deep breath as I felt the tip of his tail caress the place where my tail stopped and the blade began.

CRRRAAAAACCK!

"AHHHHH!" sounded an agonized voice. Then, a great WHOOOSH of wind crashed into me and Zeik, flinging us against the wall. Our tails were torn from each other, and I heard a yelp of pain from Zeik. I impacted the wall, hard, felt an enormous crash as something hit the wall at high speeds, and then everything went black.

** Ashe's Unconscious Encounter **

"Uuggh, where…am I?" I said, waking up and looking around. It was all grey and things were floating around. A sudden realization made me tear up. "Am…I dead?" I asked nobody, not expecting an answer. Imagine my surprise when I got one.

"No," said an echo-y voice, "no you aren't dead, Ashe, just unconscious." My eyes opened wide in horror at the response I got.

"WHERE…er…WHO…uhm…WHAT ARE YOU, MR. SKETCHY ECHO VOICE?!" I shouted in horror, confusion, and anger. "MORE IMPORTANTLY," I began, "HOW THE EFF DO YOU KNOW MY NAME?!" I was scared out of my mind, I was in an unfamiliar place, I didn't know why I was unconscious, or if I even was, and I had brought out my favorite false cuss; eff; for such an occasion. Mr. Sketchy Echo Voice didn't answer, so I got up and tried to get my bearings.

"Ok," I started, "I am obviously unconscious, I can tell that much." I looked around, trying to keep my calm composure. "I am in some…place," I observed, "obviously nowhere near the temple." I got as much evidence as I could, and then started to try and figure out why I was here. But no matter how many times I went over it, I always came to the same conclusion: there wasn't one. There was no reason that I was here, alone, in this grey area. I couldn't remember how I got here, or even when. There was no visible way out, no door, and no path, just nothing. I felt my eyes well up, realizing that I was probably never going to see my friends or Zeik ever again. I felt sad, afraid, and lonely, and then I began to cry. Then, the echo voice came and spoke to me again.

"Come now," It began, trying to sound comforting, it wasn't working, "don't cry. There is no reason to be sad. Just follow the path already laid out for you." At that, the floor underneath me turned a greenish tint, and a path suddenly materialized before me. I waited for the voice to sound again, but it didn't. I looked around, saw no other possible hope of escape, and decided to heed Mr. Sketchy Echo Voice. I began walking along the path, looking around as I went. I finally approached a door, and when I got there, it had a note nailed to it: Enter to Meet Him. Not knowing who 'he' was, and not seeing any way around it, I entered.

There was a bright flash as I opened the door. When it faded, I was in a spherical room. In the center, there was a massive hourglass, the sand spiraling instead of falling. There was a circular path surrounding the giant hourglass, and a bluish-white dragon was standing diagonally away from me, immersed in a book. The book was old, faded, and apparently suspended by some unseen force. I was silent, and had been since the voice had last spoken to me, and the dragon hadn't noticed me, or so I thought.

"Welcome, young dragon," he said, in the same voice as the one I heard before, "I have been expecting you. Come closer, I will not harm you." He said this all without looking up from his book one single time. I took a cautious step forward, and then froze. From my new location, I could see what he was reading. I saw a picture of what seemed to be me and Zeik standing side-by-side. I gasped and immediately regretted doing so. I didn't move for one whole minute, and the dragon just kept on reading.

_Jeez, _I said to myself, _he reads really slowly._ I had still not made any sound other than my gasp since I had entered, so he hadn't said anything either. My eyes remained locked on that picture. I wanted to know, I NEEDED to know, and so I found my voice and spoke up.

"E-excuse me," I said shakily, "w-who are those dragons in that picture?" The dragon's tail twitched and I saw a smile creep across his face. The book then closed and floated away, almost as though someone had done so, but there was nobody but me and him. I was memorized by the display of unknown origin, and so I didn't notice him turn and look at me. He cleared his throat and I snapped out of my trance.

"I think you already know the answer," the dragon said, looking directly into my eyes. I looked away, fearing that he would challenge me. When he didn't make any such movements, I slowly looked up to his face. He had pale blue scales all about his face, so he was obviously old. His horns were radically curved, accenting his face nicely. He had snow white hair under his lower jaw, above his brow, and coming out of his ears. But the feature that was most obvious was his eyes. They were a beautiful sky blue. I was the first to break the silence.

"I…I do?" I asked him, hoping that he would buy my bluff. He chuckled, and the sound was comforting, soothing, and almost musical.

"Yes Ashe," he said, "you do. It is you, and Zeik." I tried to look unsurprised, seeing as I had already figured that, but I must have looked more like I had just been bitten on my rump. "You don't look surprised," he said, "why not? I figured that knowing the truth would surprise you, but you look more in pain than anything else." I was still unsure about this dragon; he seemed to know too much about me. Although, I felt like I had met him before.

"Who are you?" I asked blatantly, and winced as he frowned at the straight-forward question. He sighed a long, whistling sigh, and looked up at me.

"You don't remember?" he asked, and I was intrigued at his question. So I had met him before, but where? "I am saddened that you don't recall," he said, "even after all of those blackouts where I awakened your powers." He looked down, and it all came flashing back to me: the random blackouts along our journey, waking up feeling rejuvenated, gaining my powers of wind, unleashing my powers of time, the evil being pushed further back with each blackout, and that mysterious voice who aided me along the way. I put two and two together and I finally realized who he was and from where I had met him. I screamed out the answer in a burst of excitement.

"CHRONICLER!" I screamed, "I FINALLY GET TO MEET YOU!" I ran up and gave him a big hug with my two front legs. I had tears streaming down my face as I repeatedly told him how happy I was to not be alone in here. I even gave him a little lick on his neck, and then immediately backed off, blushing.

"Yes, yes," he laughed out, "it's good to meet you in person too, but we must get you back to the temple." At this, I reminisced in my mind. _Ah, good old' Chronicler, _I said, _always right down to business_.

"But why do we?" I whined, "I just met you for real. Can't I just stay and chat for a little while more?" I was missing the temple greatly, but I wanted to learn more about Chronicler, this was our first real meeting. But, in typical Chronicler style, he disagreed.

"No," he said firmly, "you are unconscious and everybody may start to fear for the worst." He had a valid point; I had indeed been out for a while, so it would be wise to return.

"But," I started, "if I leave, I won't be able to see you again for a while." I had started to cry again, but he quickly hushed me up with one word.

"Zeik," he said, and my eyes widened, I had totally forgotten about him. I decided to go back, and he smiled. "I am proud of you," he said, "I will now return you to your body." He then breathed on me, and I began to black-out. Just before I was totally out, I heard him say, "See you soon." Then, I was gone.

** End Ashe's Unconscious **

** Back to Reality **

"I think she is waking up," said a familiar voice.

"Ashe?" came a voice I missed dearly.

"Unnnnnhh," I groaned, opening my eyes. I saw Zeik, just him, and I smiled. "Hey Zeikie," I said, "what's up?" With that, Zeik sobbed and hugged me tightly.

"Oh Ashe," he said thickly, "I thought I had lost you."

"Well, I'm here now," I said, "with you."

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	9. Chapter 9: Returning

Chapter 9: Returning

"Oh, Ashe," Zeik said, "I'm so glad you're okay..." I was glad to be back in the real world. I mean, the unconscious world was cool and all, but it was kinda lonely without anybody to be there with.

"Yeah," I said, "I missed you." I had tears in my eyes as I said this, so I quickly blinked them away, trying to hide my vulnerability. "Zeik?" I asked, still shaken up from the ordeal.

"Yeah, Ashe?" Zeik began. "What is it?" I took a deep breath through my nostrils, and I noticed how good he smelled. I wished I knew what it was, but I needed to ask him something more important first. I could ask him later.

"What…" I began, "what happened?" I looked up at him, and he looked away, as if he was ashamed of something. _Oh no_, I thought, _what happened to make him ashamed to look at me?_ My heart began to pound in my chest, fearing that I might have somehow ruined our friendship.

"Well," Zeik began, "you kinda… went berserk."

My eyes widened in horror as he said this. He took a shaky breath, and then started to speak again. "Then, you got all evil-like and trashed the room, but I said something that calmed you down," he said slowly, wincing at certain parts, as if the words hurt. "Then," he continued, this time smiling a bit, "you collapsed. I caught you before your head hit the ground." I had to say something before he continued.

"Did…" I started, "did I… attack you while I was, you know, evil?"

Zeik looked up at me, and his eyes had a glazed look about them. When I saw this, I felt my eyes well up. "Zeik," I said hoarsely, "I… I'm so… sorry, I… I couldn't control myself." I looked down, dangerously close to tears.

"Ashe!" Zeik exclaimed, sounding horrified. "Why would you hurt me?" I looked up, confused at his statement. He smiled as my eyes met his, both of us crying now. "Yes, Ashe," he said, "you heard me right, you never hurt me."

"Oh, thank Ancestors!" I said, relieved. I let the tears flow for a moment, allowing the burning inside my eyes to be temporarily put at bay.

"Yes, indeed," Zeik chuckled. "Now, continuing on, I laid you down onto the floor, being very careful to not hurt you." I smiled inwardly, loving the recounting of what happened, since I could not for the life of me remember what happened before I blacked out. I saw Zeik blush, so I figured the next part was going to be good, so I placed my focus back on him. "I… can't recall who made the first move," he began, "but we somehow ended up with our tails entwined."

_Dammit,_ I cursed inwardly, _why is it that whenever something good happens, black out and forget about it?_ I sighed, realizing that now was not the timeto be worrying about that, and I had more important things to do. I shook myhead, bringing me back to listen to Zeik.

"Then, there was a loud crack, a sudden rush of wind, and then a huge force pushed us apart," he said, voice suddenly all serious-like. His voice made chills run down my spine, but this seemed to be the part that I wanted to know.

"As we were separated, our entwined tails were ripped apart, and your tail-blade… well, look for yourself," Zeik said, turning slightly and lifting his tail up so I could see it. It looked fine, save for the end, which was mangled and missing 3 of its 6 spikes. There was a chunk of scales and flesh missing, and what remained was an almost perfectly clean slice. I gasped in horror.

"OHMYGOSHIAMSOSORRYZEIK!" I blurted out involuntarily, "I didn't mean to hurt you. I feel so ashamed." I buried my snout in the crook of my leg and sobbed out loud. "Your tail, your beautiful tail, it's ruined, all because of me," I choked out between sobs. Zeik, who was about to comfort me, perked up when he heard the 'beautiful' part. He smiled and went back to trying to console me.

"Shhhhhh," he cooed soothingly, "it's alright, at least it was quick." I laughed once, hearing how much he was failing at trying to comfort me, and then resumed crying. "Ashe," he continued, "please stop crying." With that, he placed his paw on the place where my wings met with my spine, and sent shivers of bliss coursing through my body. I tried to control my tears, eventually calming down enough to actually form words without sounding like a blubbering troll. I then spoke up.

"Z-zeik?" I stuttered. "You fail at being comforting, you know that, right?" I managed to laugh, and this made a smile creep across his face.

"Yeah," he started, "_just _a bit, hahaha. So, are you feeling any better?" he asked.

"Yes, just because your paw felt like it…belonged there," I said, blushing profusely. I discreetly wiped my eyes on my arm, and then looked up at Zeik. I jumped slightly as I locked eyes with him, and then my gaze softened, melting into the liquid gold pools of his eyes. He began to lean in, and I saw his soft scale eyelids begin to close, and I followed suit, hoping for a much needed comfort hug. Unfortunately, my body had other plans, and my eyes shot open as I felt a familiar sensation creep up my throat. I groaned and leaned away, not wanting to Zeik to get hit.

"Ashe," he began, "are y…" He never finished that sentence.

I screamed and puked, my stomach feeling as though it was on fire. I wretched more, my eyes sealed shut, fearing that they would explode if I opened them. When the pain stopped, I slowly opened my eyes. I tasted iron, and so I looked at the mess I made. It was all blood. I had vomited blood.

I panicked, looking over to where Zeik was supposed to be, but he was not there.  
I saw him on the opposite side of the room, curled up in a ball with his hands over his ears, eyes clamped shut, and nostrils closed. I had forgotten that he was extremely squeamish towards puking.

"Zeik!" I called, sending a wind puff to signal him that it was okay, "get  
Terrador, he will know what to do." He got up, averting his gaze. He looked positively pale, and he nodded and ran off to get Terrador. I felt like I had been hit in the stomach by an earth spear.

I tried to move, but a searing pain answered me. Unlike before, this was in my head. Something was trying to get into my mind. I writhed in pain, clutching my head, mouth opened in a silent scream. Then, the pain was gone, replaced with a feeling of pure malice. Whatever was trying to get into my mind had succeeded, and it was quickly getting comfortable. I remembered this feeling, it was the same as just before we defeated…

"Ashe!" came the horrified roars of three dragons, "No! Fight it! You must not give into the darkness!" Suddenly, the feeling disappeared, and it almost seemed as though it was annoyed at the interference it had encountered. When I could hear my own thoughts, I lost total control of my feelings. I wept and wept, scared out of my mind, and I curled up into a ball, taking shallow, quick breaths. I continued to cry uncontrollably, and I felt a familiar wing drape across my body. Still crying, it didn't do a thing for me. I then heard Zeik speak.

"Jeez, I guess I can't let you out of my sight," he said. "With what has happened so far, the next time I leave you, you might be dead, or worse," he growled, almost purring, "I couldn't stand dealing with that. I would be devastated." I was still crying uncontrollably; there just wasn't an end to it.

Zeik then whispered into my ear.

"It's okay, my midnight beauty, I'm here." He gently flicked his tongue against my ear. "Everything is going to be alright," he whispered to me, "your guardian is here now."

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	10. Chapter 10: Zeik's Sorrow

Chapter 10: Zeik's Sorrow

** Terrador's POV **

After I crashed, I saw the two dragons fly into the wall. I wanted to help, but the pain from my wings was almost blinding. I heard Zeik cry out, but I didn't hear Ashe, and when I looked up, I saw why. She was sprawled awkwardly at the base of the wall she had impacted with, and she was not moving.

_Oh no_, I thought_, what have I done?_ I tried to right myself, but any movement below my neck produced extreme pain. I heard a rustling, so I looked up, hoping it was Ashe, but it was Zeik; he had been able to get up.

"Ooooh," he groaned, "my aching… everything. What the hell did you do, Terrador?" I winced at the harsh language, but didn't say anything, knowing that in this case, it was totally understandable.

"Well, Zeik," I said, "it seems that I have unlocked a pure element that I didn't know I had." I looked at him as I spoke, but it was kind of strange, looking at an upside down Zeik… hey, wait a second…

"Okay, dude," Zeik said, laughing slightly, "I can't take you seriously when you're lying upside-down like that." That would explain why he was upside-down and standing, apparently my head was a bit foggy from the impact. I sighed sharply, immediately quieting the laughing.

"I would get up, if I could," I growled to him. "Unfortunately, it seems that I have shattered my wing joints, and you know that…" I started to lecture, and then stopped. _Wait_, I thought to myself, _did he even take the dragon anatomy class?_

"Hey," Zeik started, "that health mumbo-jumbo goes right over my head, haven't you figured that out yet?" _Well_, I thought, _that answers that question_.

Zeik then limped up to me, apparently to help me up. "Hey Ashe," he said over his shoulder, "why don't you help me get this old rock up?"

I shut my eyes to hide the tears, I knew that she wouldn't be getting up, and I didn't want to watch as Zeik realized that his best friend was dead. Still, he helped me up, apparently forgetting that he had asked for Ashe's help._ Wow_, I laughed inwardly_, I never realized how bad his ADHD was, it's  
kinda funny. _

"There you go," Zeik said, still groaning slightly, "nice and easy. You look pretty bad; good thing I know how to treat those breaks." I shifted uneasily on my feet, fearing for my wing use if he got access to the breaks.

"And how," I started, "would you know that?" I went through my memory; I didn't recall teaching Zeik about healing. I heard him chuckle from behind me.

"Well," Zeik said, "when you get bored, you do some things that don't normally apply to yourself." He seemed really excited about this. "I read up on healing from the library," he continued, "practiced on some willing animals, and I was told that I was actually really good." I was actually impressed, but then I heard him gasp in horror. I closed my eyes, hoping it was just at the wings. It wasn't.

"Ashe," Zeik said in a kind of monotone, "Ashe… Ashe …ASHE! No no no nononono NO!" I couldn't bear to watch. Then I heard the crying.

"NOOO!" he sobbed, "ASHE! Wake UP! Please!" I felt the tears start to roll down my cheeks. Then I heard the voice get quiet. "I am so sorry," he whimpered, "I'm so sorry that I couldn't protect you." Then, the only thing I heard was a flump sound, followed by the saddest crying I had ever heard.

I bowed my head in a silent prayer, wishing the ancestors could guide her safely to the holy land. _Take care of her_, I prayed_, guide her well._

_Goodbye, Ashe.  
_  
** End Terrador's POV **

kklk

**A/N: sorry this was so short.**


	11. Chapter 11: Waking Up to Love

Chapter 11: Waking Up to Love

** Back to Ashe's POV **

I awoke in a daze.

"Ohhhh," I groaned, "my aching head." I attempted to move, but I was too tired and disoriented to coordinate my limbs. I looked around the place where I had awakened. It was one of the bedrooms in the temple, but I didn't recognize this one.

_Where am I? I don't remember this room, come to think of it, I don't remember leaving the training--_

"Uhhhnnn," groaned a pile of sheets, "not wakey-uppy time yet." Then I realized what it was. It was Zeik, talking to himself in his sleep. I held in a chuckle as the lump settled back down and the tip of a snout poked out from under the sheets.

_He is so cute when he sleeps_, I thought to myself with a smile and a happy sigh.

"Uhhhn," he groaned again, "Ashe… you… moonlight…" I blushed and smiled.

_He's dreaming about me! I wonder what he's dreaming about… oh well._

He stirred, but then settled back and fell asleep again. Suddenly, a scary realization dawned on me. _Wait,_ I thought, _if he is here, and I am here, that means we are in the same room, and if I just woke up, and if he is still asleep, then that means…_

"OH MY GOSH!" I exclaimed out loud, much louder than I had meant to.

"WAAAAAAAA!" screamed Zeik, jumping up from his sheet tomb. He didn't stay up for long, and he fell flat on his face. "OOOF!" grunted Zeik as he hit the ground. "That…hurt…my face." At that I laughed hysterically, it was just too funny to watch. He groaned as he realized that he was stuck and couldn't get out. "Hey, dude," he began, "could you help a dragon out of a tangle?"

_He doesn't know that it's me_, I thought to myself. _I could have fun with this_. Snickering, I padded over to Zeik and began delicately removing the sheets. I was deliberately avoiding uncovering his head.

"Hey, dude," he started, "watch out for down below, had a pretty intense…" He trailed off as I removed the sheets covering his eyes and he saw who his savior was. "A-Ashe…" he stuttered, "oh, i-it's… you!"

"Duh," I retorted, "now what were you saying about 'down below'?"  
I honestly didn't know, but I had a pretty good idea, so I smirked when he looked away and blushed.

"Uh… uh," he continued, "n-never mind." I raised an eye ridge, curious about what he was hiding. I moved my claw over to the final sheets.

"Ashe!" he said quickly, "please don't pull those." I snickered at him. "No, just s-stooooh-," he shuddered as I slid off the sheets, and I soon realized what he was trying to hide. I gasped.

"Oh," I said, unable to find words, "that's why…" I was sure that  
I was now three different shades of red, I could feel my cheeks burning.

"I warned you," he said, "you weren't meant to see this. It's… it's the morning, it's always like this." I turned and walked away, trying to determine how I felt about what I just saw.

"Its fine," I said, "I didn't know, sorry." I heard him roll over and curse under his breath. I took one last shaky breath, and then exited the bedroom. I looked back, still unsure of what to do, and realized that that was Zeik's room. My mind was on overdrive, trying to take in every detail. I was still reeling when I sensed someone standing beside me.

"Hey," said Zeik, "You ok?"

"Yeah," I responded, "Yeah, I'm fine, just a little shaken up. That's all." I had once again let my mind wander back to the realization that got me into this mess. _Did we_, I thought, _did we… mate? _I wanted to know so badly, so I mustered up the courage and just asked him.

"Zeik?" I began, "I need to ask you something."

"It was not my fault that I was dreaming of you," he blurted out, "I had just fallen asleep thinking of you and because of that, you ended up in my dreams, and about the sword, it was an… " I stopped him with the flat of my tail blade.

"It's not about any of that," I interrupted, "it's about where I woke up, and why." I heard Zeik breath a heavy sigh of relief. He smiled and looked up at me.

"You fell asleep in my room," he started, "after your ordeal." I looked into his eyes as he spoke, and I once again found it hard to concentrate as I began to drown in his liquid gold eyes. I snapped back to focus.

"Yeah," I said, "but… did we… y-you know…" I blushed and looked down. I heard Zeik gasp.

"Ashe!" he exclaimed, "no! No we didn't! I… I couldn't put you through that kind of pain, so no… we didn't… mate." I felt something inside of me lift, and I suddenly felt much better.

"Thank Ancestors," I exclaimed, "I was afraid." Now, however, I wanted to know how I got here. "So," I went on, "how exactly did I get here?"

"Well," Zeik started, "after your mind was attacked, you were scared to sleep alone, so Terrador suggested that you sleep in my room." I looked up, totally surprised at what Zeik had just said.

"What?" I questioned, "but… wouldn't… WHAT!?"

"Yeah," he said, "I had a similar reaction, but Terrador insisted, saying that 'it would be a wise choice' and being all ancient-earth-like."

"Well," I said, "I am still here, still sane, so I am glad that he suggested it." I rubbed up against Zeik as I said that, and I felt his breath shake. He apparently liked it.

"Well," Zeik breathed, "we should probably get to the training room; Terrador said there is someone there who would very much like to see you."

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	12. Chapter 12: Meeting the Teacher Finally

Chapter 12: Meeting the Teacher…Finally

Zeik and I began making our way to the training room, but it was like neither of us wanted to speak. The incident in his bedroom was still fresh in my mind, and I hoped that it would go away soon. Zeik obviously sensed that I didn't want to speak, so he respected that and kept quiet.

_Wow,_ I thought to myself, _this is the quietest I've ever seen him…it's kinda nice._ I smiled just a bit, enjoying the peace and quiet. Suddenly, Zeik seemed uneasy, like he wanted to say something, but didn't know how to go about saying it. I heard him take a deep breath. _Well, _I thought, _all good things must come to an end._

"H—" he began hesitantly, "A—" He then sighed, and I knew he had given up trying to speak. I had to know what he was going to say.

"Hmm?" I questioned, "Did you say something, Zeik?"

"Huh, what?" he began, "Oh, well, I wanted to, but… never mind."

"No," I retorted, stopping in my tracks, "Go on, say what you were going to say."

"But…" he began, but I stopped him by summoning a slight breeze to come and creep up his spine.

"Tell me," I said, a little more sternly than I planned. It seemed as though my breeze did the trick, since he was shivering.

"You," he chattered, "You did that, didn't you?" I smiled devilishly, staring directly into his eyes. He chuckled, obviously enjoying my smile. "You little sneak," he laughed out, "Well, whatever." He started walking again.

"Zeik," I said, and he flinched and stopped walking, "You neglected to tell me what you wanted to say."

"So I did," he started, "Oops, heh. Well, what I wanted to say was…" He took another deep breath. "Did you," he continued, "enjoy what happened back there?" I thought my eyes were going to fall out of my head when they shot open in horror.

"Zeik!" I whispered hoarsely, "Why would you even say a thing like that?!" I felt my cheeks burning, so I was obviously blushing. I noticed that Zeik was, too. Then he saw that I was blushing, smirked for a split second, and then continued walking.

"Let's go," he said enthusiastically, "We are going to be late; don't want to keep the teacher waiting." With that he turned the corner that lead to the training room, leaving me to stare stupidly at the spot where he had been for 5 minutes. I shook my head, clearing it, and then scrambled after him.

"Wait up!" I called, but he was already gone.

"Welcome," Terrador boomed as I clambered though the door. "So glad you could join us today, Ashe. You know, I'm a little surprised that you are late." I laughed half-heartedly, collapsing to the floor, totally out of breath.

"I was *gasp* held up *gasp*," I said between gulps of air. _Why am I so out of breath?, _I asked myself, _I mean, come on, I'm a WIND dragon. How can I run out of air?_

"Oh," Terrador said, "Well, what held you up?" At this, I stopped thinking. I was at a total loss; I couldn't tell him that it was because of Zeik. He would get angry.

"Uh," I started, trying to come up with a good reason. I couldn't; every reason I came up with was too far-fetched, and I absolutely sucked at lying. "Uhm," I continued, now desperate. Suddenly, there was movement in the far corner of the room, and another dragon stepped out into the room.

"I think," it said in a quiet yet wise voice, "My dear friend, what Ashe is trying to say is that she is very sorry for being late and would desperately like to get on with the lesson." I looked at Terrador and nodded my head in agreement, getting a smile in return.

The other dragon then walked up beside Terrador and gave him a smile. Terrador returned it with a kind look in his eyes. I was puzzled at Terrador's reaction to the unknown dragon suddenly appearing from nowhere. I came to the conclusion that he had already known that the dragon would be appearing. I studied the other dragon, and it winked at me. Taken aback at the blatant display of affection towards me from a strange dragon, I opened my mouth to tell him off. That was about as far as I got.

FAWUUMPH!

"OOOW!" I roared, "WHAT THE HELL!?" I squirmed under the deadweight to try and get a glimpse of my attacker. "GET THE—" I growled, until I discovered the identity of my attacker, "Oh, hey Zeik." The smile he gave me was one of pure playfulness. He rolled off of me and onto his feet.

"Took you long enough," he said, "I was up there for ages." He smiled at me again. "Ashe, I'd like you to meet some…" his voice trailed off, but came back: "Hey, you weren't supposed to be out of hiding yet!"

"Oops," said the unknown dragon, "I guess I forgot, sorry Zeik."

"AWWW!" Zeik whined, "Well, I guess it's too late now; might as well introduce you to Ashe." Zeik pouted a bit as he finished that sentence. "Ashe," he began, "I'd like you to meet…"

"Chronicler," I finished, finally realizing who it was, unsure of how to react to this new discovery.

"Oh, come ON!" Zeik complained, "THIS IS SO NOT FAIR! YOU KNOW EACH OTHER?!"

"Yeah," I said, my mind slowly filling up with questions. "We've met before; I just didn't recognize him."

"Indeed," Chronicler said, "It is true, we have met before. Sorry, Zeik, but you seemed so excited to introduce me to Ashe that I didn't want to make you feel bad." He gave Zeik a half-smile.

"WELL," Zeik roared, "THIS IS A TOTAL TAILSWIPE IN THE FACE!" With that, he turned and went into the corner to sulk.

"It's okay," I reassured Chronicler, "Just watch, he will get over it in five minutes." I gave him a smile as I said that. All the questions I wanted to ask began to claw their way out, and I burst forth in a blur of speech.

"CHRONICLER!" I screeched, "I can't believe you are here! Why? HOW? It's great to finally meet you in person." I fired off a few more questions, and then took a deep breath. I looked at him, and smiled nervously. "Heh," I chuckled, "Sorry about that, lost control."

"It's alright," he said, "I was expecting a volley of questions, and all of them will be answered in due time." I nodded and sat on my haunches, admiring the ancient elegance of the Chronicler. He was so old, yet he still seemed to be young on the inside.

"Well," Terrador interjected, "Now that we are all introduced, let's get on to meeting your teacher in the pure elements for today." No sooner had he finished that statement than Zeik ran up and stood next to me, looking eager to learn.

"I apologize for my previous outburst," he said quickly, "It was uncalled for, but I'm all better now." I smiled at him, thinking about how long he was going over that speech inside his head. Terrador smiled and nodded.

"Well, okay, then," he said, "Without further ado: Zeik, Ashe, I'd like you to meet your teacher: Chronicler." To be honest, I wasn't surprised at the statement; however, Zeik practically jumped out of his scales he was so excited.

"YAY!" Zeik hollered, "This is going to be so fun!" With that, he began firing small bursts of light from his body to show how happy he was. There was a sudden bluish-white blur, and then the Chronicler was right beside Zeik, glaring at him.

"NO!" he scorned, "Do not use your pure element without paying attention; it is a very powerful thing and is VERY unstable, so be mindful when you use it." Zeik shirked away from him, obviously frightened.

"O-okay," he stuttered, "But, why?" He looked over to me, as if to ask for help, but I just shook my head. I was interested on why as well.

"You are too young," Chronicler said, "You will not be hearing it from me, although if you must know, ask one of the Guardians." Zeik and I met each other's gazes for a second, knowing that what we were thinking was the same thing. We both opened our mouths to speak, but Chronicler interrupted us.

"And no, Terrador will not tell," he said to us both, much to our dismay. I heard Zeik exhale loudly, and I had a similar reaction to Chronicler's warning.

"Awww," Zeik and I both whined, "Come on! PLEEEEASE?" I put on my best pout face and stood up, trying to convince Chronicler to listen to us.

"Absolutely not," he decreed, "And that is final. Now, let's get on to the first lesson." Zeik pouted more, but I could see in his eyes that he was excited for the lesson, as was I.

_At last, _I thought, _I FINALLY get to learn how to use time properly. _I sat back on my haunches and looked up, giving my full attention to Chronicler. Zeik did the same, but he flumped down to his stomach with a sigh.

"Alright," Chronicler rasped, "From this point forth, you will be paying FULL attention to every word I say, for if you want to learn how to control your pure element, you will need all the knowledge you can get." I cocked my head to the side, confused at why he would say such a thing.

"Pfffft," scoffed Zeik, "Sure, just like how I'm not supposed to use my powers indoors?" He seemed so aloof yet so condescending at the same time. I shook my head in disgust.

"Now let's begin with the rules," said the Chronicler, being very articulate and clear, "Rule Number One…"

_Oh, sweet Ancestors, _I groaned inwardly, _this is going to be a looooooong couple of weeks._

kklk


	13. Chapter 13: Alone in the Clearing

Chapter 13: Alone in the Clearing

It was a warm summer's night, the sky filled with millions of stars. There was a slight cool breeze, but it kept the heat from becoming overwhelming. The grass rippled in the breeze and gently caressed my scales, sending delightful shivers down my spine. I was in a secluded clearing just outside the temple walls yet far enough away to escape the toils of it. I lay on my back, limbs splayed out to keep from getting sweaty. My wings were open and lay limp beside me, since they needed to rest. The breeze seemed to kiss every single inch of my body, and I found it soothing just to lay there, not caring, totally exposed and sprawled out.

I took a deep breath, inhaling the scents of nature, and closed my eyes. I let the breath out slowly, clearing my thoughts as it went, letting my mind relax from its usual constant whirring. I let my mind run free, thinking relaxing thoughts. I thought of flying over a green valley, catching thermals and gliding down, floating down a lazy river, watching a sunset, Zeik…

_Zeik, _I thought sluggishly, _he is such an amazing dragon, so kind and thoughtful, yet so wild and free. *sigh* I wish I could be that way, going through life so carefree and happy. Instead, I had my mind attacked by the Dark Master and got an evil side. Now I have to worry every moment of every day if today will be the day that I lose control and give into the darkness._

I sighed again, opening my eyes. I felt something in the dark depths of my mind stir, and it was a reminder what I had to live with.

"It's fine," I said aloud, "As long as Zeik is with me, I can't give in; he is the light that keeps away the dark." I slowly turned my head to look at the crescent moon, thinking it was only midnight. It turns out that the moon had slid farther down the night sky, now almost hidden behind the trees surrounding the clearing. Realizing that I may end up losing the night to the sun, I slowed down time.

Yes, I had finally learned how to control time for longer periods, since it had been 8 weeks since we began training in pure elements. I smiled as I felt the breeze slow down and saw the grass slow down, yet both still had the same effects on me as when they weren't slowed. I closed my eyes again, relishing in the total quiet that ensued. I thought of Zeik again; then, without realizing it I fell into a deep sleep, causing time to speed back up.

My dreams were filled with horrifying images. The Dark Master firing the mental attack that planted the evil in my mind, the desolate landscape that he called his domain, Zeik collapsing when his powers gave out, the Dark Master approaching Zeik's collapsed body, and me using the evil side to send the Dark Master back to the convexity. I awoke screaming at the top of my lungs, terribly afraid. Suddenly, I was blinded by the rising sun cresting over the mountains.

* Back at the Temple *

Zeik, who had been lying awake on his new earth bed that he had made himself, hadn't slept a wink. He was too excited about his newly learned skills of light. However, the night before, Chronicler had warned him that using his newly acquired skills at any point the next day would have disastrous consequences. Zeik didn't even think about using it because Chronicler had seemed so serious when he explained that. While waiting for the day to start, he heard an agonized scream. Being the valiant dragon he was, he crawled off of his bed and shuffled to his balcony, slowly spread his wings, and listened for the scream. Turns out the scream hadn't stopped, and he suddenly realized who it was.

"Ashe," he whispered to himself, "Oh, no." Zeik launched himself off the balcony, wings groaning and joints cracking at the early morning exercise, but he still urged his wings to go faster. His eyes watered as the wind was blown directly into his eyes. He heard the scream stop, and he feared for the worst, so he pushed even faster. He saw a clearing just outside the temple walls, and he figured that was where she was. "Please," he prayed, "Don't let me be too late."

* Back at the Clearing *

I was shivering, the bad dreams haunting me still. The pictures kept on flashing in my mind, keeping my fear close at hand. The image of the Dark Master flashed in my mind, causing another scream to escape my lungs. I screamed the name of the only being I wanted to see at that moment in time.

"ZEEEEIIIIIIIIIIKKKK!" I shrieked, "ZEEEEIIIIIIIIKKKK!" I felt the tears begin to roll down my face, yet I still couldn't see, the sun wasn't up far enough to light up the clearing. I heard wing beats and I froze, fearing that some nightmare was coming for me. A dragon dropped from the sky at a rapid pace, yet I couldn't see who it was.

"S-s-stay away from me!" I whimpered, obviously failing at being intimidating. Suddenly a bright flash of light emanated from the unknown dragon, and the fear seemed to melt away. I knew who it was; I could recognize that maroon chest any day.

"Zeik," I whispered, "It's you." I ran forward, wanting to be in his embrace. The light faded away, and I heard him panting.

"What *puff* were *puff* you screaming for?" he gasped out, "I thought you were being attacked!" I turned away, blushing in embarrassment.

"I… well, I had a nightmare," I said pitifully, "It was really scary." I heard a flump from where Zeik was standing, and I looked over to see him lying on the ground, wings and limbs splayed out from his body. I admired how he looked, the muscles in his forelegs, his muscular chest, and his powerful hind legs, they all showed how much he had truly grown. I smiled a bit.

"So let me get this straight," Zeik said after catching his breath, "I flew all the way out here as fast or faster than physically possible, at the crack of dawn, fearing that you were being attacked, for a NIGHTMARE?!" I knew that tone of voice, he was pissed, but he needed to know why I called him.

"Well," I cautiously spoke, "Yes, but…"

"But NOTHING!" he shouted, getting up on all fours, "Ashe, I thought you were DYING, you know, having the life drain out of your broken body! Do you remember what happened to Ember?" I opened my mouth to speak, but no sound came out.

"No?" Zeik questioned, "Well, let me help you remember, she ran off to fight the Dark Master before we had gotten to him, and she was destroyed by him." He had begun to walk towards me, a look of wild fear and rage and sorrow in his eyes. He spoke again before I could say anything.

"Ashe," he growled, "everyone says that nobody saw her again after she left, but that isn't the truth." I had never seen Zeik so angry; it was starting to frighten me. I finally found my voice.

"W-what do you mean?" I asked shakily, beginning to shirk away from him.

"I mean someone did see her," he snapped, "I saw her, or what was left of her, when I flew ahead to see if the Dark Realms were at least semi-okay to pass. She was lying on the ground next to a cliff, still clinging to life, but she was fading. Ashe, every bone in her body was SHATTERED, she had huge, deep cuts all along her sides and back, and one of her eyes was bloodied and swollen shut." He took a shaky breath, and then continued.

"She saw me approach, and she began crying," he recounted, "I rushed up to her side, and she spoke to me.

'Z-Zeik?' she rasped out, coughing up blood, 'Is that you?' I said yes, unable to think of anything else to say. 'Kill me,' she coughed, 'Please, end my pain; I can't endure any more of it.' I simply stared at her, unsure of what to do. I began crying, and I managed to sob out one word: sorry. Then, I lightly tapped my foot, sending the cliff edge and her into the fiery abyssal. Then I returned to you, hiding my emotions. To this day I still have nightmares about it."

I didn't know what to think, didn't know what to say, the only things I could register were Zeik's golden eyes swimming with tears. I sat there, staring with a blank expression on my face. He broke down and cried, and I had a brief period of déjà vu. I had seen this before, in a dream. I remembered that it was a bad dream, but that was all I could remember.

"I…" I took a pause, "Never knew," I whispered quietly. I walked over to him and lay down beside him, trying to comfort him. He quickly wrapped his wings around my torso and held on to my neck with his front legs. He wept into my neck, and his tears were hot on my cool scales. I rolled over and faced him, my eyes shining with tears as well.

"Just don't ever leave me," he whispered, "And don't do that to me again." I nodded, and he buried his snout in my neck, weeping again. I smiled and laid my long neck over his, feeling his warmth and letting my tears flow.

_I won't, _I thought, _for as long as I live, and that is a promise._

* Somewhere from deep within the Convexity *

"At last, it is time, muahahaHAHAHAHAHAHAAAAA! AH-HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAAAAA!"

kklk


	14. Chapter 14: Disaster Strikes

Chapter 14: Disaster Strikes

We made our way back to the temple as quick as we could; the sun was rising faster than we were walking. I snickered as I looked over to Zeik, having a devious idea.

FWAP!

"Oww!" hollered Zeik, "what was that for?" I laughed and continued to make my way to the temple, not looking back. My tail stung from the impact with Zeik's hard skull.

"Hey!" he called after me, "slow down, I'm a little tired." I heeded him and slowed down, albeit reluctantly, since we were so close to the temple. When Zeik finally caught up with me, he smiled and wacked me in the back of my skull with his tail as well.

"Ow," I whined, "I guess you were right, that does hurt." He nodded at me, with a look of 'I-told-you-so' in his eyes. I smiled at him, and then shuddered as a cold breeze blew over me and Zeik. The warm summer morning suddenly got gloomy as clouds began to travel into view.

"I think we should hurry," Zeik said ominously, "looks like some bad weather is coming in." I agreed and we took flight, both of us a little scared of the sudden change of weather.

"So glad of you to join us today, young dragons," said Chronicler as we flew in through the window, "may I ask why you were both so late?" I struggled to find an answer yet again, but Zeik found one first.

"No," he said firmly, "not this time, this was a personal matter that Ashe does not wish to mention." I was horrified and fascinated at the same time from Zeik's response, it was so straight-forward. The Chronicler was taken aback at Zeik's brashness, and it was all I could do not to laugh at the expression he gave Zeik.

"Very well," Chronicler said, "then let's start our training for today." I smiled as those words gave me comfort. Training, the time when I felt the safest.

"Today you will be working on your ability to gain power from each other," Chronicler continued, "because if you can learn to master this skill, you can defeat almost any opponent." Zeik and I looked at each other, totally confused by that piece of info. Zeik was the first to speak up.

"Gain power…from each other?" he questioned, "………………………..HOW DOES THAT WORK!?" He made a what-the-eff face as he said that. I chuckled at the almost perfect display of that face. The Chronicler then spoke up.

"You see, young dragons," he said, "You two have a special bond that very few dragons are able to make." I turned away and blushed, hoping that the Chronicler didn't know of my affection towards Zeik. Zeik also turned away, and I could hear his unsteady breathing.

_He must be embarrassed too, _I thought to myself, _this couldn't be any more perfect, he likes me as well._ I smiled inwardly, and then went back to listen to the Chronicler's explanation of this so-called 'bond' we had.

"You see," he said, "when you are both in close proximity; you can gain power from the very presence of each other. The bond you two share can make you more powerful than you could ever imagine." At this, Zeik spoke up.

"Pfff," he scoffed, "I don't know, I can imagine quite a bit." I flicked the tip of his wing with the flat of my tail-blade, scolding him for being so rude.

"What I think he means, master," I said, being sure to remember to call the teacher by his proper name, "is that we are already very powerful, so how can we get more powerful?" Chronicler smiled at this, apparently finding my ignorance amusing.

"Young Ashe," he said politely, "you really don't understand the true power of love, do you?" My eyes shot open, my face felt like it was on fire, my heart skipped what seemed to be a minutes worth of beats, my breath was caught in my throat, I could only stare at Chronicler in absolute horror.

_Did he REALLY just say that?_ I asked myself, _what do I say?_ I stayed locked in that position, eyes glued to Chronicler, for at least a minute. Finally, I found my voice.

"WHAAAAAAAAAT?!?!" I screeched out, "WHAT DO YOU MEAN BY THAT?!" I could hardly think, I was totally embarrassed, and I was beyond any comprehension of anything except the dragon in front of me.

"What I mean is," Chronicler calmly began, "that the love you two share for each other is where you will draw your power from." I felt it before it happened, I knew I was going to faint. My eyes rolled back into my head, and then I passed out.

Moments later, I felt a sharp pain in my tail. I shot up in pain, seeing that it was a rock that was rolled onto my tail. I shook my head, clearing the fuzzy out of my mind. I blinked and saw an almost identical scene to what I fainted to. The only difference was that Zeik avoided eye contact.

"How long was I out?" I asked nobody in particular.

"About a minute, Ashe," Chronicler chuckled, "Zeik here just made a rock roll onto your tail and up you came." I still felt the pounding in my chest and the heat in my cheeks, but I chose to ignore it. I wanted to start the training.

"Thanks Zeik," I said, but he just mumbled. I frowned at him, but he still didn't see it.

"Can we start training now?" he asked Chronicler, who nodded and walked into the middle of the room.

"Ok," said Chronicler, "first, let's start by closing our eyes and letting our minds go blank." I waited until Zeik closed his eyes, and then I did the same. I felt my mind clearing, rather quickly.

"Good," Chronicler said calmly, "now, think of the single most powerful memory of each other, let it fill you up, let it become part of you, let it spread over every inch of your body." I thought of us in the clearing, lying there, all alone. I felt something inside of me tingle, and then I felt that same sensation spread over my entire body.

"You are ready," Chronicler said, "now, unleash that feeling out in a single burst, and put every ounce of your strength into it." I did as I was told, releasing the built up power. Wind mixed with time in a devastating combo, slowing my surroundings and sending a gale-force wind swirling around me. I had never felt so much power, so much intensity, ever before in my life; it was exhilarating.

"Well done Ashe!" Chronicler hollered over the howling wind, still moving as though the time wasn't slowed. "Very good, now, clear your mind again to stop the fury; you don't want to drain your powers." I obeyed, taking a deep breath and letting my mind go blank. I felt a similar tingling, but this time it receded rather than spread. I felt the wind die down and time speed back up as the fury ended.

"Very good, now we wait and see if Zeik can manage this as well," Chronicler said with a serious look on his face. I nodded and turned to look at Zeik, noticing how concentrated he was. I felt, rather than saw, the room get darker, and shivered, but I paid it no mind. I saw that Zeik's tightly clenched eyelids had begun to form tears at the corners, and a smile inched across his face. His eyes suddenly shot open as he released his fury, sending bright bursts of light shooting from his body. I shielded my eyes, fearing blindness, but I felt pure inside, like the evil was being purged from my body.

"Oh no," Chronicler rasped out in a tone that sent cold shivers down my spine. I suddenly realized that something was wrong; the beams of light seemed to get brighter and closer together, as if Zeik was losing control. That pure feeling suddenly wasn't there anymore; it was being changed into evil again. Then…a laugh echoed around the room, one filled with malice and hate.

"MUAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAH! AT LONG LAST, I HAVE RETURNED!" I would've recognized that voice anywhere.

Malefor had returned… and he wanted revenge.

kklk


	15. Chapter 15: Tragedy in the Temple

Chapter 15: Tragedy in the Temple

"No," I said quietly under my breath. "No, it can't be!" Tears were beginning to form in my eyes from the overwhelming light still emanating from where Zeik's body should have been. I was beginning to panic, not being able to see where his form was, where the Chronicler's form was, where _I _was. I began to hyperventilate.

"ZEIK!" I roared out, "WHERE ARE YOU?!"

Nothing, no response, not even a groan. Nothing but the incredibly loud ringing in my ears from the raw energy I was being exposed to. Seeing no possible escape, I sobbed and dropped to the floor, curling into as tight a ball as my body would allow, trying to hide my face from the energy. I began to fade into unconsciousness. I felt my eyelids droop, but they suddenly shot open when I felt a scaly claw on my back. I looked up to see nothing but light, but I did hear something else.

"ASHE!" growled the now recognizable voice of the Chronicler. "Ashe, we need to get out of here…NOW!" I nodded, not realizing that he couldn't see it, and stood up. I was prepared to leave, but there was a nagging feeling at the back of my mind. I tried to put a claw on what it was. Then, I figured it out.

_Zeik, _I barely heard my thoughts say, _where is Zeik?_

I felt Chronicler pulling me, but I planted my legs firmly on the ground, refusing to move. I felt the claw dig into my leg, causing me to wince from the pain, but I stood steady.

"ASHE," roared Chronicler, "COME ON!"

"NOT WITHOUT ZEIK!" I retaliated, wrenching my foreleg from the Chronicler's vice-like grip and turning towards the direction of Zeik. I didn't get far.

!!!!!

My mind exploded as an incredibly high pitched sound reverberated inside my head. I dropped like a stone, sliding about three feet from where I was originally standing. I thought my head was going to implode as I convulsed on the cold floor, still hearing the sound of the mind attack. My maw was opened in a silent scream as I began to feel a warm liquid trickle from my ear canals. My eyes rolled back in my head, my heart was beating at an almost constant drone, my breathing had stopped, and every synapse of my brain felt like molten steel was coursing through them. An evil laugh rang out clearly through the drone inside my skull, and despite my situation, I recognized the tone.

"MUAHAHAHAHAHAHAAAA!" guffawed Malefor. "YOU ARE MINE, ASHE!" As he finished his sentence, my mind blanked, and I forgot about everything; the only thing that remained was a feeling of pure hatred and malice.

"I—HAVE—RETURNED," said a voice that seemed to come from me, "MASTER." A wailing roar from behind me made me turn on the spot, desperately searching for the annoyance.

"NO!" screamed Chronicler. "YOU WILL NOT TAKE HER AGAIN!" I felt my face contort into a wicked sneer, and an evil laugh rang out from my own mouth.

"YOU FOOL!" said my voice, "CAN'T YOU SEE THAT YOUR EFFORTS ARE FUTILE? I HAVE BEEN RELEASED FROM MY PATHETIC EXCUSE FOR A HOST THAT YOU CALL 'Ashe!'" My voice again laughed, and then in an even darker tone spoke again.

"FROM THIS POINT FORWARD," I heard my voice say, "THERE IS NO ASHE, ONLY ZULE!" What happened next seemed to be like a movie.

I first felt the energy build up from within, and then I opened my maw, a pitch black ball of energy forming from the opening. The ball got larger and larger, and Chronicler roared and summoned his own ball of pure white. But it was too late, and I felt myself release the ball towards Chronicler, who was unable to block or deflect it. He received the entirety of the blast, sending him flying into the wall with a sickening crack.

_NOOOOOO! _I screamed at my evil self from within, _WHAT HAVE YOU DONE?! I WILL KILL YOU!_ The evil laughed at my mind speech.

_You are just as foolish as that pitiful waste of a dragon, _the evil retaliated; _now shut up or I will find some other dragon's life to end._ At that, I screamed from within my mind, gaining control of my body for a moment.

"GET—OUT!" I screamed out loud in my normal voice, and the light in the room began to fade. I didn't have much time. Then, my evil side reclaimed control of my body, showing that it was superior to me.

"You are fighting a pointless battle," said my evil voice. "You'd better just give up now." The light faded more, and I felt an evil smirk cross my face. I regained control and immediately charged towards the source of the evil voice, Malefor.

"YOU!" I roared out as I charged, "YOU SON OF A BITCH! I'LL KILL YOU!" I was gaining on Malefor's position, hate and anger burning in my eyes, and was ready to attack.

Suddenly, a voice rang out clear as day inside my head.

_No, Ashe, _spoke the easily identifiable voice of Zeik, _if you kill Malefor with hatred and anger, you'll become nothing more than Malefor himself._ I felt the anger and hate melt away, replaced with only love and protection, and stopped charging. I looked at Malefor, watching as the smirk he was wearing slowly turned into a scowl of hate.

"NoooooOOOOOOO!" Malefor roared, "YOU IDIOT!" I smirked and closed my eyes, clearing my mind.

I thought of the first time I saw Zeik get hurt, that was the memory I chose. It was Zeik's fault, but still…

**Flashback**

"Hey Ashe!" called out a voice that always made my heart flutter. I wouldn't ever tell him, but I secretly had a crush on Zeik. I smiled and turned my head around to greet him.

"Hey yourself," I piped nervously, "what are you doing here?" I had gone on a walk to get away from it all, and was heading to my secret clearing just outside the temple walls.

"Just want to show you a new trick I learned in training today," he confidently said, "wanna see?"

I rolled my eyes. This was the third time this week. I decided to heed him.

"Yah, sure," I sarcastically said, "go ahead." Zeik beamed at me, and then became all serious.

"Ok, now back up," he growled, "this is going to blow your mind." He took a deep breath, closed his eyes, and then suddenly shot up as a column of earth launched him up into the air.

"Woa," I breathed, very impressed at this trick, unlike the last few times he showed me. I squinted as I tracked him in the air with my raptor vision, and saw that he had reached the peak of his climb. He opened his wings, flapped once, and then curled up into a boulder, plummeting to the ground.

My heart stopped as I thought that he was going to impact the ground and cause himself physical harm. I began to panic, yet still watched him scream towards the earth. When he was about three-hundred feet from the ground, he reverted back to a dragon, but just put his limbs tight against his body, becoming as streamlined as an earth dragon can be. At one-hundred feet, he lowered his skull so his head would hit first. Then, it happened.

BA-BOOM!

"OWWWWW!" he screamed, and I rushed over to his side.

"!" I blurted out as I fussed over his body, checking every bone and ligament, checking to see if any were torn or broken. None were, but I still didn't let him move.

"Hey!" he whined, "let me up, I need to walk it off!" I held him firmly against the ground, looking directly into his eyes with fiery intensity.

"No," I growled, "you are not moving until I say you are okay to move." Zeik blushed as I said this, as if he knew what I was getting at.

"Fine," he squeaked, and I relaxed my intensity.

"Zeik, what were you thinking?" I said, worry lining my voice, "you could have been seriously hurt, maybe even killed, what was the point of that anyway?" He blushed deeper and looked into my eyes.

"I was supposed to go into the ground, find a gem, and bring it back up to show you," he replied, "I just saw you before I impacted and got…distracted." At this, I blushed profusely and averted my eyes, not wanting Zeik to see them tear up.

"Well," I began, "that was very sweet, but next time, be more careful, okay?" I heard Zeik laugh under his breath, and then he pulled my head until I was looking at him.

"Sure, whatever you say babe," he said with a sarcastic tone.

**End Flashback**

I smiled inwardly as I relived the memory, and then let that happiness fill my entire body. I felt the power grow and grow, until I thought I would burst. I felt the wind pick up, and felt time begin to slow. Finally, I unleashed the pent up energy directly towards Malefor. As I began to rise up, I sensed a presence approach me from behind, and looked over my shoulder. I gasped.

It was Chronicler.

He was dragging his wings on the ground and limping. It seemed as though his tail was shattered, along with his wings and his right rear leg, and three of his horns were snapped. His entire right side was bloody and I could see the deep cut just below his right wing. Yet, he still managed to nod and smile at me, and I knew what he was saying.

We were going to end this right here, with our furies.

I returned my focus towards Malefor, who was slowed by my time and wind, but still was charging up a ball of darkness, this one pulsating with fire, ice, electricity, earth, and convexity. I pushed my fury harder, and I felt time slow further as the Chronicler added his time and psychic fury to mine. I saw Malefor begin to be pushed backwards from the psychic and wind, and I thought we had triumphed.

I was wrong.

As I saw the darkness ball increase in size, my vision began to dim.

_No, _I willed my thoughts to continue, _no not now, please not now._

I got tunnel vision, but I still forced my fury to continue. I felt the wind die down and time speed up a bit, and I tried to push my rapidly draining energy to the limit. In my last few seconds of consciousness, I felt the wind stop and the time speed up further. My energy had been exhausted. I took one last look around the room, seeing the light eminating from Zeik almost completely faded, Malefor and his dark ball, and Chronicler with tears shining in his eyes. Then, I blacked out.

"I'm sorry Ashe," Chronicler said in an almost inaudible whisper, "I…I tried to protect you and Zeik, and I failed." With that, Chronicler stood up as straight as he could, put on a scowl of pure determination, and stopped his fury.

"Come on, my old pupil," Chronicler roared, "GIVE ME YOUR BEST SHOT!"

"Gladly," Malefor growled, voice dripping with malice and age old hate, and he fired his dark ball. He charged up to Zeik, snatched him up, and flew off.

"Goodbye Terrador," Chronicler whispered, "I've always lo…" He was cut short.

kklk


	16. Chapter 16: The Light in the Darkness

Chapter 16: The Light in the Darkness

**Ashe's Unconscious State**

Darkness.

Fear.

Alone.

These words kept swirling around in my head as I lay there, unconscious and oblivious. I was in a pitch black place, devoid of all light and happiness. I was not in the Chronicler's realm, and so I was very much alone. I lay in a tight ball, crying and screaming for someone, ANYONE, to come and save me.

Nobody did.

"CHRONICLER!" I screeched between sobs, "WHERE ARE YOU?!" I continued to sob, as there was no response, only silence. I curled into a tighter ball, closing my eyes and thinking of the one being that could give me comfort in this dank place: Zeik.

"Zeik," I blubbered out, "I'm sorry I couldn't protect you, I was just too weak, and Malefor was too powerful." I shivered as I remembered the horrific scene that played out before I fell into unconsciousness. I pushed it out of my mind in an attempt to feel better. It didn't work.

"Zeik," I sobbed out, "he…he's become too powerful, I couldn't stop him. I fear he may have done something terrible, I can feel it, deep down inside." I shivered again as Malefor's evil laugh replayed in my mind.

I uncurled slightly, my tears finally settling down, and started to relax. I felt the scales on the back of my neck prickle and my mind was invaded.

_You will make it through this_, it said. I bolted upright, recognizing the voice.

"Zeik?!" I exclaimed in surprise, "is that you?"

_You will…you will…you will,_ his voice echoed, making me panic.

"No, don't leave me!" I called out in a desperate attempt to keep his voice in my head. I was fading into blackness, his voice echoing more and more, getting more and more distorted.

_Ashe, _Zeik's voice echoed more, causing my head to swivel from side to side, trying to locate the source of his voice. An image of Zeik appeared in front of my face, and it seemed to be speaking. I listened closer, and all I heard was the echo of his voice. Then, one word echoed out as clear as day.

_HELP!_

**Back to Reality**

"ZEIK!" I yelled out, bolting upright in a destroyed room. My heart was pounding in my chest. I was covered in a cold sweat. My breathing was erratic and quick, causing me to inhale the dust in the air. I coughed and hacked until I saw stars. When my cough fit ended and my vision cleared, I focused on calming my heartbeat and breathing down. Minutes later, I finally had my body in its normal state, and I looked around at the room I was in. I didn't recognize it.

The room was covered in debris. There were piles of rubble strewn about the landscape. There were holes in the ceiling, throwing dingy beams of sunlight into the otherwise dark room. The beams showed how much dust was truly in the air, accented by the stuffy atmosphere of the room, despite the size of it. There was no draft, so the heat of the summer was almost crushing.

Not wanting to suffocate, I summoned up a slight breeze to clear the air, directing it towards the holes in the ceiling. I opened my wings as the dust cleared, letting the refreshing breeze clear the dust off of my body. Now that the room was a little less musty and hot, I took a better look around the room. I had a brief occurrence of déjà-vu as I saw a doorway, like I'd seen it before, but taking another look proved that I was wrong. I continued to scan around the room, and concluded that something had gone on here.

_Yah,_ I told myself, _like THAT wasn't totally obvious._ I shivered as a scary possibility dawned on me:

I could have done this.

I shook my head in disbelief, telling myself that it wasn't true. I began to walk towards the door I saw earlier.

Then I saw it.

It was a pile of debris in a dark corner that I had seen before, but something about it was drawing me to it. As I approached it, I realized that it was covering something, something big. I cautiously approached the pile, unable to identify what was under the rubble. Fed up with wondering, I blew off the debris with a single gust of wind, throwing dust and debris everywhere. I squeezed my eyes shut to keep them from getting any dust in them. As the dust settled, I reopened my eyes.

What I saw will haunt me for the rest of my life.

Lying there, in a pool of blood and gore, were the destroyed remains of Chronicler.

I stood there, unable to function or process what I was seeing in front of me. I felt like my heart had been torn out and stepped on, the pain I felt was so bad. I looked into his face, hoping that it would somehow move, but alas, nothing happened. He just stayed still, lifeless, and I found the horrific image too much for me to handle anymore. I turned away, not bearing to look at one of my best friends dead in front of me.

I stood there for a long while, not wanting to leave Chronicler's body alone in this place. Finally, as the sun was beginning to set, I decided that nothing could be done. He was gone. So, with what felt like a giant hole in my chest, I slowly made my way to the doorway.

I reached the door, turned around, took one last look at Chronicler's final resting point, said my farewells, and pushed open the door, walking in to the last person I had expected to.

"Ooof," said Terrador, "Hey! Watc- Ashe? What are you doing here?" I stared up at Terrador, tears welling up in my eyes.

"No," he whimpered, "no not him, I refuse to accept it!" With that, he crashed through the door. Moments later, a terribly agonized roar reverberated throughout the valley.

"NOOOOOOOO!" Terrador cried out, "NO! HE CAN'T BE GONE!" I felt the tears begin to flow again, and I could hear the deep sobs coming from the demolished room. I could feel his pain, for the Chronicler had also been my friend, but it was probably nowhere near the pain that Terrador was feeling. You see, contrary to what he may think, I knew that Terrador secretly had a crush on Chronicler, so seeing his love dead would hurt him in more ways than I could fathom. I began to sob aloud, the emotional weight of the situation finally setting in on me.

"Nooo," Terrador moaned out, "why did you sacrifice yourself? I could have saved you if you had given me the chance." I re-entered the room, trying to comfort Terrador by draping my wing over his ancient body in an understanding embrace. He wheeled around, eyes bloodshot and pouring, and gave me a scary look. He opened his mouth to speak, but no sound came out.

"I know how you feel-" I began, in an attempt to help him understand, but he only interrupted me.

"NO YOU DON'T!" he bellowed out, "YOU HAVE _NO_ IDEA HOW I FEEL RIGHT NOW!" His words stung a bit, but I steeled myself and continued on.

"Yes, I do," I persisted. "I know that you had feelings for Chron…Chr…_him_," I stumbled over his name, it was too painful to say, "whether or not you would like me to know, and even though I don't know what losing someone that special feels like, I know what it feels like to lose one of your best friends." My eyes welled up as I spoke, and I saw Terrador's eyes shut as more tears flowed. He fell to the floor, burying his snout in my chest.

"*sob* Why did he have to die?" he cried out in a muffled voice, "why? He left me all alone in this world, with no-one to love!" I shut my eyes as more tears poured out, and squeezed my wings around Terrador to remove some of the emotional pain.

"I don't know," I sobbed out, "but I know at least this; he wouldn't want you to beat yourself up over this, he would want you to take all the happy memories with him and move on." I felt a strangely comforting presence near me, and without having to know, I knew that Chronicler was standing by, smiling at us. I felt a smile creep across my face and nudged Terrador.

"Hey," I sniffed out, "I think he is watching over us, and he would not want to see you like this. Come on, let's get up." With that, Terrador looked up at me, and for the first time in a while, a smile inched across his face. We both got up, still sniffling, and looked at Chronicler's body.

"He looks so peaceful," Terrador croaked out, "he never was this peaceful, there was always something on his mind." He gave a shaky sigh, and I placed a paw over his, and I felt his paw relax.

"He is in a better place now," I sighed, "I think we should make this be his final resting place. Although, where exactly _is_ this place?" I truly didn't know where we were, or even why Terrador was here. Terrador chuckled, a good sign that he was recovering.

"We are in the Training Room," he scratched out, "the on that you and…_him_…were training in before THIS happened." He gestured at the destroyed room. My eyes opened wide, horrified that this had happened inside the temple.

"Wow," I breathed, "in that case, this would be the perfect place for his final resting place." I looked at Terrador, whose eyes were misty again, but he managed to nod.

"Yes, but I think we should make him a tomb," he said softly, "One made of earth." With that, Terrador stamped the ground, sending all the debris shooting off to the sides of the room. He took a deep breath, closed his eyes, and the ground underneath my feet began to tremble. The floor seemed to shoot up, and it encased the body of the great Chronicler, and then the earth hardened into a block and landed on the ground with a THUMP. Then, to top it off, he walked over to the debris pile, found a piece of wall that had a painting of a dragon on it, gently laid it atop the tomb, and then crafted a depiction of the Chronicler out of earth, hardened it to stone, and then merged the two pieces into the tomb.

"That is beautiful, Terrador," I whispered, eyes shining with tears of happiness and sorrow, "but it is missing a few things; an inscription, a date, and certain something extra." He agreed with the first two, but was puzzled about the third. I ignored him, telling him to write the inscription, the date he was born, and the date he died. He simply dragged his claw along the tomb and wrote this:

CHRONICLER

BORN: BEGINNING OF TIME

PASSED: SUMMER,

AGE OF THE RETURNING DARK

"HERE LIES CHRONICLER, THE DRAGON OF ALL KNOWLEDGE.

HE WAS A PERFECT DRAGON, AN INCREDIBLE WARRIOR, AND A TRULY GREAT FRIEND.

HE WILL BE MISSED, BUT HE WILL ALWAYS BE IN OUR HEARTS, WATCHING OVER US WITH A SMILE.

SO LONG, OLD FRIEND, SEE YOU IN THE GREAT HALLS OF OLD."

-TERRADOR, DRAGON OF EARTH,

LAST OF THE FOUR GREAT DRAGON ELDERS.

"That is perfect," I said, "now, for the finishing touches." With that, I called upon my powers of wind. However, this was no ordinary task of blow a gust of wind. No, this called for concentration, and some special knowledge, to call upon the sacred winds. The sacred winds are winds that only a truly pure and powerful wind dragon can call upon, for they only listen to that which has power and purity equal to that of their own. They have the power to purify, the power to shield, and the power to prevent destruction caused by weathering and erosion.

I focused my mind, calling on the sacred winds to assist me. I felt the wind pick up, and then I heard the winds whisper, and I knew that they had listened. I wrapped the winds around the tomb, making sure every inch was surrounded, and then slowed the winds to almost a standstill. Finally, I constricted the winds so that they latched onto the tomb, and then, they became part of the tomb itself, melding into the stone permanently.

"There," I said, "now it won't be destroyed by nature, and one last piece." I cleared my mind, taking slow, deep breaths and closing my eyes. I concentrated my pure element inside of me into my mouth, collecting it all in a single area. I felt time slow as I gathered my strength to prepare for what I was about to do. When I felt time halt completely, I knew it was ready. I opened my eyes, took one final breath, opened my jaw, and slowly breathed out, propelling the concentrated element of time towards Chronicler's tomb.

As the power exited my body, time began to speed up, and I heard Terrador gasp in awe. I continued to breathe out, urging the power to reach the tomb. When it reached the tomb, the element spread out, gently enveloping it in a blanket of frozen time. When the whole tomb was blanketed, the sacred winds made the blanket form to the shape of the tomb, and then absorbed the time, causing all time within the blanketed tomb to halt.

"Now the tomb and the body sealed within will never be affected by time," I whispered gently, "allowing this tomb to survive for eternity, like the memories of the great dragon sealed inside." I felt ten feet tall as I finished these tasks, knowing that I had just ensured this tomb's life span would never end. Terrador snuffled slightly as I finished my little performance.

"Thank you, Ashe," he croaked quietly, "this means the world to both me and all of dragon kind." I smiled back at him to show that I appreciated his response.

"Your welcome," I said, "it was the least I could do, since he had done so much for all living beings." I looked back at my handiwork, seeing how well I had done.

"You are simply amazing, Ashe," Terrador continued, "I am truly honored to have you as a daughter."

My heart, at that point, stopped dead in its tracks.


	17. Chapter 17: The Journey Begins

Chapter 17: The Journey Begins

I practically gagged on the air I was breathing. I couldn't think straight, I had trouble standing, and it felt like the entire world was looking right at me.

"Come…come again?" I was able to stutter out between my choking breaths. I focused my gaze at Terrador, my aquamarine eyes practically staring right into his soul. He seemed to shirk away from the gaze, but he shook his head and stood as tall as he physically could.

"Yes, Ashe," he began, "you heard me right, you are indeed my daughter." With that, he gave me the most loving and understanding smile I had ever seen, and I got this weird feeling at the pit of my stomach. I soon realized what that feeling was.

"E-excuse me," I mumbled out, and I quickly rushed out of the room. I reached the balcony and emptied what little contents my stomach had over the edge. The pain was excruciating, and I almost passed out, but I steeled myself and stayed conscious. I heard Terrador quietly come up behind me and wrap a comforting wing around my body; it felt warm, but I was in no mood for love. All I felt was anger towards him.

"I understand that you must be…" Terrador began, only to be interrupted by me.

"NO! You have NO idea what I am feeling right now," I shrieked at him, my voice seething with anger and hurt, "do you have any idea what I've had to go through, thinking that I had no parents? No, you don't." I couldn't think of anything else to say, so I just kept quiet, hearing my words echo along the hallways.

"I-I…" Terrador stuttered, unable to respond. His eyes were glazed over with tears, and the sight was difficult to handle, but the frustration I felt towards him was stronger than the, well, pity I felt.

"Just don't, Terrador," I half growled, half croaked, "I've had to live my life alone, with no one to comfort me, no one to punish me, no one to care, and you just come out and say that? YOU DON'T DO THAT!" At this point I had reached the point of no return. I was letting all my anger out at once and all the bottled up feelings were flowing from my body.

"Ashe," Terrador began, but I again interrupted him.

"Just SHUT UP!" I shrieked, hitting the peak of my anger, "You weren't there for me when I needed someone to do so. Even when I was captured by Malefor, where was my so-called 'father?' You didn't come rushing to rescue me, and he corrupted me, made me turn evil, and what did you do? NOTHING! You just sent your little 'savior' Zeik, and although I am grateful I met him, it was insulting to realize that the great earth dragon was too busy to come save me himself." My heart was pounding, my eyes had tears flowing freely from them, and I felt like my entire being was getting torn in half, but I had to keep going.

Terrador just stood there, slack-jawed, unable to form a response, and tears pouring from his pale emerald eyes. Finally, he turned his head away from me and cried aloud.

I couldn't take much more of this, I had to go and find Zeik.

"Terrador," I said hoarsely, "how could you do this to me?" He looked up at me.

"Ashe I-I'm," he again started, but he couldn't finish the sentence. From what I could tell, he finally realized his wrong-doing.

"I must go now," I said, voice cracking with sorrow, "farewell, 'father'" and with that, I flew off the balcony and into the setting sun.

"I-I…" Terrador stuttered out, voice trembling with sorrow, "I'm a terrible father, and I've failed my only daughter." He fell to his stomach, and began to weep silently.

I continued to pound my wings, determined to get as far away as possible from the temple. As I flew, I attempted to figure out where Zeik could be, and the only place I could think of was Mount Malefor. I headed towards where I thought it was, and flew on. Hours later, I slowed my flapping, anger finally boiling over.

"Stupid, stupid, STUPID!" I burst out into the night, "why would he DO something like that, after all that has happened today? What was he THINKING!" I began to cry, tears streaming down my face and neck due to the headwind I was facing. The tears blurred my vision, not that there was much to see, as it was nighttime, but the sky _was_ crystal clear. Finally, the tears were pouring so profusely that I HAD to stop, or else risk going another direction entirely.

I settled down into a clearing, tears still pouring, and finally broke down. All my emotions came out at once; pain, confusion, sorrow, anger, frustration, loneliness, and above all, _lust_.

Yes, for the past three days, Zeik had become incredibly attractive to me, and I just wanted to have him all to myself. It might have been the fact that I was in heat, but it still didn't matter, I wanted him.

"ZEEEEEIIIIKKK!" I screamed out into the night sky, "WHEEERREEE AREE YOUUUU!" I stopped screaming in order to save my voice, and then listened to my voice echo around the valley. After 15 minutes of waiting for a response, a whisper, a shout, ANYTHING that would indicate were my love was, I gave up, flopping down onto my back with limbs sprawled outwards. I just stared into the sky, crying silently, wishing, and hoping, for a sign.

**A Little While Later**

I lay there for what seemed like hours, not moving, letting the grass and wind soothe my body, the gentle caress of them pleasuring me, making some of the emotions melt away. I don't know how long I was there, but I didn't care; it reminded me of my secret place back at the temple, minus the tranquility of the river.

I was staring at the night sky, finally able to view the stars, when I felt the scales on the back of my neck stand on end, and then it happened.

_Ashe!_ The voice in my head spoke, _Ashe!_

I shot upright, heart pounding in my chest.

"Zeik?" I said aloud. No answer. Then I had an idea.

_Zeik? _I asked within my own thoughts.

_Ashe! _His voice said, this time having an air of relief about it. _I'm so glad that you are okay._

_So am I!_ I yipped in mind-speak, _Where are you?_

I waited for him to respond, but he seemed to not be able to.

_Zeik?_ I asked again, _hello?_

_What? _He responded, a bit harshly, but then he softened his voice, _what?_

_I asked where you were,_ I thought, _I need to find you._

_Oh no, _he thought hastily, _he comes close, I must go._

_Zeik…_I began.

_Find me in the far north, _he thought, and then I felt the connection sever.

He was in trouble, I needed to help him.

"There is only one place Malefor would even think about hiding out in up north," I said aloud.

"Mt. Malefor." With that, I jumped up, spread my wings, and shot off into the sunrise, probably towards my doom.

kklk


	18. Chapter 18: Old Friends, New Feelings

**A/N: I'm alive! I promise that I will update more often now, just had a MASSIVE case of writers block.**

Chapter 18: Old Friends, New Feelings

I pounded my wings as fast as I possibly could, and growing increasingly tired in the process. I was aiming for the place where I knew Zeik was being held captive, but I couldn't seem to locate Mt. Malefor. It was as if it had simply vanished from thin air. I constantly scanned the horizon with my raptor vision, but so far the infamous mountain was nowhere to be found.

"Where is it?" I asked no-one in particular, "I could've sworn it was here somewhere." To tell you the truth, I couldn't have told you where here was. In fact, I seemed to be lost.

"It's hopeless," I sobbed out, "I'll never find him, not me. It seems that I never deserved him in the first place." I saw the world begin to blur out once again, and I found a clearing to settle down in for the night. As I began my decent, I felt dizzy, and my wings gave out.

I was losing consciousness…again. As I hit the ground with a sickening thud and a cracking of branches, I felt as if I would never wake up again. I had given up. There was no point in searching if I didn't even know where to start.

Then, everything went black.

**Meanwhile**

**?'s POV**

I had finally gotten enough free time to take a walk in the woods. I had been working nonstop for the past few days, taking care of my mother's newly laid eggs. They had finally hatched and mom had said to take a while off. I thanked her and shot out the door, telepathically closing the door behind me.

"Ancestors, it feels good to get out of the house," I said, walking along the forest path, "I thought I was gonna go insane in there. I mean, how much work do 3 eggs really need done to them?" I chuckled softly at my own comment, and stopped for a bit to look at some pretty flora.

I reached over and plucked some vine and a small flower. I wrapped the vine around the flower and made a loop. I affixed my new bindi by taking the loop and sliding it underneath a scale on my crest. Satisfied, I continued my walk, enjoying my freedom and the sounds of the little forest creatures in the bushes.

Suddenly, a dragonfly accidently flew into me, and I was so entranced into my walk that I hardly noticed it.

"Ooof!" grunted the dragonfly, "sorry Miss! I didn't see you there."

I snapped out of my trance, and looked at the dragonfly. My eyes crossed as he was very close to my snout. I pushed him slightly back with a gentle telekinetic nudge so I could focus on him better. Now that I could see him clearly, I noticed that he had a smile on his face.

"It's no biggie," I mused, "I wasn't paying attention anyways. It's _my_ fault, not yours." He smiled at that, and then said farewell and went on his way.

"What a nice dragonfly," I said softly, "most of the ones I've seen are either rude or don't talk at all."

I continued on towards the top of the hill, stopping occasionally to smell a flower or watch two sparrows play tag. A little while later, I finally reached my destination: the rose bush with an opening that allowed a full view of the forest and surrounding valley.

This…was my place of solitude. Here, I could come to think without being interrupted by my little brother or have to worry about what is going on in my life. I could slow time and spend hours on end without caring about the world.

"I missed this place," I whispered, taking a deep breath of both the roses and the fresh air. I let out the breath in a long, relaxed sigh. As I did so, I easily tapped into my pure element and let time slow slightly.

I didn't get to relax for long.

As the time began to slow, I noticed a small black dragon in the sky, flying in circles. I stopped slowing time, watching the dragon intently. I had never seen a black dragon before, and it intrigued me.

"I wonder who that could be," I said, stepping out and launching myself into the air. I flapped my wings gently and approached slowly, not knowing if it meant any harm.

The un-identified dragon had stopped circling and began to slowly fly away from me. This puzzled me, and I approached quicker.

Then…disaster.

Suddenly, and without warning, the black dragon's wings gave out, and it spiraled and flipped towards the earth at an increasing pace.

Horrified, my protective instinct kicked in and I shot forward towards the plummeting dragon. I attempted to catch the dragon with a telepathic net, but I only succeeded in slightly slowing its' decent. I was still too far from it when it went crashing through the trees. A scared yelp came forth from my maw, and I parted the trees so I wouldn't get hit, and crashed into the ground, searching frantically for the dragon. When I found it, I just stared in horror.

The dragon, who I had previously thought was a male, was actually a female. Her wings were twisted in unnatural ways, and her left side was impaled with a tree branch. Her tail was bent at an angle, so I assumed that it was broken, along with at least 4 ribs and her right front _sii_, or front leg. Her eyes were closed, and her horns were scratched. Something about the horns made my mind tingle, as though I should know what was significant about them, but I couldn't put my claw on it.

"Oh, you poor thing," I whispered, my voice quavering slightly. I concluded that she had passed out, and then lost control. I couldn't leave her here; she would die. So I decided to bring her back home, where I could take care of her. I picked her up telepathically, taking extra precautions to make sure that nothing moved, for fear of further injury, and began the trek home.

**End ?'s POV**

**Ashe's POV**

My veins were on fire, I could barely breathe, and all I could think about was Zeik. Unfortunately, I realized that I was alive. My attempt at giving up was unsuccessful. Slowly, I opened my eyes. I wished I hadn't.

As soon as I opened them, the pain hit. It felt as though someone was inside me, tearing out organs and roasting my body. I let a long scream of pain out.

"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH!" I shrieked, making my lungs and throat burn. When I stopped screaming, a sea foam green dragoness shot into the room, quickly coming over to my side and giving my a leaf to eat.

"Here, chew this," she soothed, "It will lessen the pain." I opened my jaw and obliged, hoping for anything to make this pain go away. I chewed rapidly, and then swallowed, gagging on the gummy substance. However, she was correct; it did make the pain go away.

She sat there, on her haunches, watching me intently. I shifted uncomfortably, and winced as I felt a pain wave emanate from my ribs. She flashed a 'don't move' look at me, and I again, listened, not wanting to feel any pain.

"You took a nasty fall," she said, "you were lucky I was there to help you, otherwise you would've been dead."

I groaned in frustration.

_So she is the reason I live,_ I thought to myself. As I looked at her, something in the back of my mind tingled, as though she was familiar to me.

"Who…," I wheezed out, "are you?" She smiled, apparently happy to see that I was comprehensive.

"My name?" she said, "my name is Satya. I'm a telepathic dragon." My mind suddenly clicked and I picked out one name that would complete the picture.

"Shantam?" I asked, trying to figure out if this was for real. Her eyes widened and her jaw dropped as I spoke the name.

"H-how did you…?" she began, then her eyes widened further, and I thought they were going to fall out, "…Ashe? Ashe Jaxyn?"

I nodded, knowing now that this was indeed the Satya from my childhood, my best friend. When Malefor took me, she was heartbroken, and I thought that her family had left the realms. I was wrong.

"You…look so different," she said, "what happened to your beautiful sky blue scales?" I looked away painfully.

"Malefor…he…" I began, trembling, "he changed me over to the dark, and that made my scales change." Satya looked horrified, and suddenly gave me a gentle hug.

"I'm so sorry," she sobbed, "I should have never left. There is not one day, not a one, which I'm not reminded of how I left you there, and how I watched as you were taken away."

I had to hold back tears as I watched my long time best friend break down in front of me, about me. I tried to reach out and comfort her with a wing, but I only succeeded in causing myself more pain.

"You broke your wings," Satya sniffled out, "and 4 ribs, and your right front _sii._ I think your tail is broken too." I went slack jawed as I heard what had happened to me. I couldn't believe it.

_Jeez,_ I thought to myself, _what _didn't _I break? _I moved my neck, and that didn't seem to be broken, and I smiled outwardly, trying to comfort her. She returned the smile, so I figured it worked. One question nagged me though, so I asked.

"Why didn't you return to the temple?" I gave her a stern look, to really drive home the question. She just stared at a floorboard, not looking at me.

"When I saw you get taken away," she slowly began, "I was devastated. I wanted to go and get you so badly, it hurt. I cried myself to sleep every night, and every morning I woke up feeling as though there was a gaping hole in my chest. That's when I found my place of solitude, where I could go and think. For the first two months after you were taken, I had cried in that place. But then I got to thinking, 'what if I trained and got strong, then I could go and save you myself' and so I did. But I never got strong enough, and I eventually gave up."

She had calmed down by now, and she was no longer crying, but she still avoided my gaze.

"Wow, you did that?" I asked. I was flabbergasted at the determination she showed. She nodded slowly, and then continued talking.

"I eventually forgot why I was going to my secret place," she whispered, "and yet, I still went, every day, until I had almost gone mad. Then, mom fell gravid, and I had to take care of her. For nine long weeks I cared for her, and then for three days after she laid her eggs. The whole time, I didn't go to my place. I had forgotten about you entirely. Then, today, I went, and I saved you. Which brings me to my question, why were you here, so far from the temple?"

I didn't want to tell her why I was here, for she too was good friends with Zeik, but she gave me this wide-eyed stare that made me give in.

"Zeik…he," I began, my voice quavering, "he…was…"

"No," Satya said quietly, "not him, please not him."

All I could do was nod, tears finally streaming down my face. I wished I could comfort her, but the only thing I could do was cry silently. She flopped down onto her stomach, not saying anything. The only sound I heard was me crying.

"Satya…" I managed to croak out, "I…I'm sorry about that day. I'm sorry for yelling at you. I just felt so selfish, like Zeik was only meant for me, so I just kinda snapped at you when you said you had a crush on Zeik."

This time it was my turn to avert her gaze. I focused on the room I was in. It was quaint, peaceful, and homely. It was an earthy brown color with maple floorboards. There were various jars of jam, ranging from dragon fruit jam to tangelo jam. There were bundles of fruit hanging from the ceiling, including grapes and some rather large bananas. But the part that most stood out to me were the vast amounts of herbs around the room, none of which I had recognized.

_This must be Satya's room_, I concluded, getting distracted by a strange white and black circle. It had two teardrop shapes intertwined, one of white and one of black, and at the thickest point of the teardrops there was a spot, one of the opposite color that the drop was. I had no idea what it was. _Yes, _I chuckled inwardly, _this _definitely _is her room, because I'm looking at an unknown symbol._ Satya then spoke, making me focus back on her.

"No…" she spoke softly, "it's _my_ fault. I knew that you had a crush on Zeik, but I was just so confused. You see, before she left, Ember was beginning to become attractive towards me." She sat up, and walked towards the unknown symbol. She picked it up telepathically and walked back over to the bed I was on. I was confused about what she had said, however, and even more confused as to why she grabbed the symbol.

"What do you mean?" I asked tenaciously, and I was serious this time. She smiled at me slightly, and laid the symbol down next to me. She then gestured towards it.

"This…is a Yin-Yang symbol," she said quietly, "it means peace and harmony within the earth. The white, or Yin, represents calmness, good, femaleness, and the moon. The black, or Yang, represents restlessness, evil, masculinity, and the sun. Separate, they are weak and vulnerable, but together, they are more powerful than anything you can imagine. Together, they keep the peace, keep the balance of the earth in check, and they can do anything imaginable. You see, Ashe, I keep this because I believe that harmony is important. With this, I understand why there is evil such as Malefor, because without evil, good cannot exist. The other reason I keep this is because it helps me understand that love does not have boundaries. Yin and Yang are total opposites, and yet they are bound together eternally."

She stopped to take a shaky breath, and I almost begged her to continue. This was really interesting. She walked over to a tall cylindrical jar, reached in and pulled out a small leaf. She walked back over to me, and touched my side. A sudden flash of pain hit, and I whirled my neck around to see the source of my pain. My side was bandaged and the bandage was red with blood. I groaned inwardly and watched her as she slowly and tenderly removed the bandage. As she did so, she continued talking.

"Ashe, I keep this symbol because it proves to me that I am not a…a…" she hesitated as she finally removed the bandage and disposed of it. She took a deep breath. "That I'm not a freak," she finished, her voice breaking at 'freak,' as though it was a painful word. "This symbol helps me to understand that there are no laws of love, that love is love, and nothing should affect it. Love does not need to be male/female, and I understand that now." She looked at me with her sapphire eyes, and I looked back.

"What do you…mean?" I asked timidly, beginning to feel uncomfortable with the air getting to the now exposed wound. "I'm confused, what does that have to do with anything?" I saw her get misty eyed, and then a single tear rolled down her cheek.

"Ashe," she began slowly, almost painfully, "I'm bisexual. But I hear that word and it hurts, it's derogatory. What I really am is uncaring about gender, as long as it's love, that's all that matters to me."

I was speechless. I didn't know how to respond to that. I just stared at her, not fully comprehending what was just said. She continued on.

"The day you were taken away," she said, "I was afraid that I might be considered a freak if someone found out that I liked dragonesses as well as dragons, so I rapidly attached to Zeik, hoping that it was just hormones that caused this new attraction. I wanted you to see that I was normal, but when you snapped at me, I got defensive and snapped right back. I stormed off, trying to understand why I got so defensive, and then I turned around and watched in horror as Malefor took you. I'm so sorry." She clamped her eyes shut as a single tear escaped.

I finally understood why she was always so open to everybody. She didn't care. _I'm so happy for her_, I thought, _she has finally found her place in the world_. For the first time in a while, I spoke.

"I always knew you were different," I said comfortingly, she opened her eyes, looking at me with hurt. I quickly continued on, not wanting to see my friend hurt. "I always knew you were, and that's why I wanted to be friends. I didn't want you to get hurt by someone who didn't accept you for who you are, and so I became friends with you." I ended with a loving smile, to show her that I really meant what I had just said.

Her eyes rapidly flooded with tears, and she rushed up to me and gave me a huge hug. Pain vibrated along my body, and I growled in agony. She quickly backed off.

"Sorry sorry sorry!" she said hastily, "here, this will speed up your healing." She took the leaf she had been holding, chewed it slightly, and then spoke. "This will smart a bit." With that she placed it within the open wound in my side.

"AAAUUUUUUGGGGHH!" I roared out, as fiery pain engulfed me. It was quick, however, and just as soon as it was there, it was gone. I looked back at the wound. It was rapidly sealing. Satya bandaged it back up. "What was that?" I spat out unintentionally.

"An herb that heals and promotes scale growth," she said knowingly, "I use it all the time whenever I get cuts. It works surprisingly fast, that wound will be safe to leave open in about 12 hours. Now your broken bones? Not so much. Your ribs will be fine in a day or two; draconic ribs always heal quickly, due to the fact that our bodies pivot around them. Your tail is only dislocated, I can fix that right now." She plucked another leaf from a small bush.

"What is that?" I asked. I was rather afraid of them now.

"Something to numb the pain," she said, giving it to me. I obligingly ate it, and she yanked my tail, dislocating it and resetting it.

Almost instantly I felt like I would pass out. The pain was so immense that I couldn't even scream. The only thing I felt was my maw opened in a silent scream, all else was numb to me. But, as soon as the pain had come, it was gone just as quick, replaced by a comforting sensation that my tail was where it belonged. I let out a long exasperated sigh.

"Wow," I said, "that HURT! Didn't you give me a pain-reducer thing?" She looked at me with a slight smile.

"That WAS reduced pain," she chuckled, "tail resetting is IMMENSELY painful. Most creatures that experience that black out, yet you stayed conscious, even coherent. I had forgotten how strong you are." With that she blushed slightly, a reddish hue intruding on her otherwise teal scales. I smiled at her display of shy affection.

"So," I began, "now that my tail is fixed, what are you going to do about my wings and my _sii_?" I doubted that it would be as simple as my tail, and probably as painful as getting my tail reset. I was dreading the answer.

"Well," she sighed, "it's not going to be easy. And it DEFINITELY won't be a pleasant experience." She gave me a meek smile, seeming to show that she was sorry for putting me through this.

I groaned in defeat. _Well_, I thought inwardly, _better toughen up, be prepared for anything. _I steeled myself as she closed her eyes. All of a sudden I felt as if I was being enveloped in a strange presence, and realized it was Satya's telekinesis. It concentrated around my right _sii_ and my wings, and then clamped down in them with the force of an earthquake. I felt my broken bones shift within me.

I screamed and blacked out.

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	19. Chapter 19: The Corruption of Zeik

**A/N: My updates may be a little slow, school is PACKED with work this year, so I apologize in advance.**

**A/N: Caution, this chapter has some violence, brief strong language, and some vague suggestive themes.**

Chapter 19: The Corruption of Zeik

**Zeik's POV**

I spilled out all my rage in the most terrifying roar I'd ever heard.

I was chained to two stone columns within Malefor's lair. My neck and ankles were chained and I had to stand on my hind legs. I had been struggling against them for a long time, and I had finally built up enough rage for it to have to be released.

"MALEFOR!" I growled, seething with anger, "YOU MISERABLE LITTLE SH-" I was interrupted by a bone-snapping fist to the gut. I saw stars and keeled over as far as my chains would allow, clutching my stomach and attempted to vomit, but I only dry heaved, not having any substance within me. The pain was excruciating, and, despite the number of times this had happened, I was still not used to it.

"SILENCE!" came the sound of Malefor's satanic voice, "you still have yet to learn your place! You are my prisoner now, and I will not tolerate defiance!" To add emphasis to his statement of power, he sent dark electricity coursing through my body. My body went into spasms and my mind was screaming for the pain to stop. "I OWN YOU, YOU WILL BE MY NEW SERVANT!"

A gagging, choking sound came from within me as I twitched, and Malefor stopped firing electricity into me. Still twitching as electricity still coursed through my body, I regained my composure. I smirked and spat into Malefor's face. He looked at me with fire in his eyes.

"I will NEVER serve a vile creature like you, Malefor," I said defiantly, still twitching with the occasional spark, "and you want to turn me? Over my dead body." Malefor suddenly exploded with dark energy.

"THAT CAN BE ARRANGED!" he howled, "YOU WILL JOIN THE SHADOWS!" With that, he directed the dark energy that was flowing outward from his body at me. It slammed into me, and I was flung into the wall and pinned there.

This wasn't going as I had planned. I had forgotten to factor in Malefor's seemingly nonexistent fuse, and now that very fuse was lit.

The raw power intruding in my body had such an air about it that it seemed as if all things in this world were evil. I struggled to keep my thoughts pure as the energy attempted to penetrate my mind and corrupt me. It was an incredibly difficult battle, one that I had to win. I grunted out as I tried to expel the malevolent energy from my body.

"Rrrrrr," I growled out, "must…resist…" I faltered for a split second, and the intruding substance instantly took advantage of it and penetrated my mind. Malefor sneered as he was fast approaching his goal.

"HAHAHAHAAAA! FOOL! CAN'T YOU TELL THAT THERE IS NO ESCAPE THE POWERS OF DARKNESS!" he expelled as he continued to pump darkness into my weakening body.

I groaned, now having to fight it within my mind. I kept my mind on my friends, Ashe, Terrador, my friends from before the Temple before it was attacked, and The Chronicler. I didn't understand it then, but when I thought about The Chronicler, something at the back of my mind tingled, and almost instantly the evil was pushed from my mind. I saw Malefor get enraged; he must have noticed that I had countered the attack on my mind.

"What's…the matter…Malefor?" I grunted out, still managing to have a defiant attitude despite the situation. "Am I…too strong…for you?" However, even as I taunted him, I felt the energy begin to ensnare my body. I glanced down at my scales; they were beginning to turn a darker shade of hazel. I felt my mind begin to have less pure thoughts. My strength was waning.

I couldn't hold out much longer.

"YOU WILL _NEVER_ BE MORE POWERFUL THAN ME!" he decreed, and his whole body began to have the elements surround him, giving his scales the appearance of a dragon made up of only elements. This was his fury, and while it was intimidating, it had a drawback, especially in such a power-hungry dragon as Malefor. His energy would deplete in thirty seconds, based on how much energy he was pouring out of his body.

Suddenly, I came up with a plan to keep me out of the dark.

"You…can't possibly…think you can win," I grunted out, smirking at him. His eyes flashed red, and he let out a loud roar. _Yes,_ I thought, _it's working. He is getting angrier, and pouring out more energy. If I can only keep him distracted long enough to keep him from using it…_

"YOU CANNOT BEAT ME!" he spat, "I AM ETERNAL! I _AM _THE MOST POWERFUL BEING IN THE WORLD!" Suddenly, his eyes flashed purple, and he began charging a convexity burst.

_Oh, THIS can't be good, _I thought, _I had forgotten about convexity, I can't counter that._ I began to panic, and I was losing my cool. The darkness took advantage of my increased adrenaline and merged with my veins, making the transformation speed up rapidly. _Hold…on,_ I urged myself, _I can't let myself give in._ I let out another terrifying roar, and I felt myself begin to shift into the darkness.

"MALEFOR! I _WILL _OVERPOWER YOUR MEAGER-"

"SILENCE YOU FILTHY BEAST!" Malefor screamed, and with that he let the convexity beam go.

_This is it, _I quickly thought, _now is the time to use the saved energy that I have to stay alive. _I shut my eyes, thought of Ashe, and let the stored energy come out in a single concrete beam of light. The convexity and light smashed together, making plasma appear where the two met.

"WHAT TRICKERY IS THIS!" Malefor roared out, "WHERE DID YOU GET THIS POWER FROM?" I still had my eyes shut, for if I let my thoughts stray from Ashe, the darkness would envelope my mind and seal my fate.

"What is this?" I yelled, "This my kung-foo, and it is strong." The beams were fighting each other for dominance, neither ever letting the other get the upper hand. Plasma poured from the connection, searing the earth underneath, and sparks threatened to ignite it.

Suddenly, Malefor's beam faltered, and my light beam gained the upper hand.

"WHAT IS HAPPENING!" He yelled, infuriated. I smiled, knowing what was happening. Thirty seconds had passed, and now his energy was draining. I opened my eyes, forgetting about keeping my thoughts on Ashe. As I did so, the beam of light split the convexity in two, and collided with Malefor, sending him flying into the wall. The beam of light flickered and disappeared, and I smirked at the heap of scale that was Malefor.

"Not so powerful now, eh Malefor?" I boasted, confidant that I had won. Then, he stirred and rose up.

"No," he said very quietly, "you are the one that is not strong." Suddenly, I felt an enormous force envelope me. I had forgotten to keep my thoughts pure, and I had gotten significant elation at Malefor colliding with the wall. The darkness had invaded my mind. I was becoming the very thing I had set out to destroy.

I had failed. Very slowly, starting from my claws, I felt myself corrupt. My scales shifted to a dark, evil green, my claws grew longer and more curved, tapering to a ragged point, and still the transformation continued. I was now corrupted up to my knees, and about a foot taller.

"No," I said aloud, "I refuse to give up." I continued to fight it. But the darkness crept further. Now, my back was shifted, and it began to inch down my tail. I fought for what seemed like hours, but it was really only seconds. Finally, I realized that it was pointless to fight it, it was eminent, it was going to happen. So, with a sullen sigh of defeat, I stopped fighting it.

"In moments the transformation will be complete," Malefor mused, a slight twinge of pain audible in his voice. He very quietly giggled, a sound that, had I not been in this situation, would have been amusing.

"You _WILL_ pay for this," I spat, returning to silence.

"Oh, I'm sure I will, hahaha," he retaliated, turning around and walking to the wall for a good seat.

By now the corruption had reached the tip of my tail and wings, and it extended both a good foot in length. The spikes that weren't sliced off by Ashe grew and sharpened to a serrated point. My wings became coal black and red marking appeared all over the membrane. And still it continued. The corruption then reached my neck, extending it a foot longer, and then it reached the base of my skull.

"This is it," I said almost inaudibly, "goodbye Zeik, it was nice knowing you." It reached my horns, creating small spikes along each horn, and turning them blood red. My snout extended slightly to allow room for the extra teeth, which sharpened, and then two sets of canines appeared, both extending out of my jaw about four inches. I shut my eyes.

_I'm sorry Ashe, _I thought with my final moments, _I'm sorry for everything. I love you._ My eyes shot open, full of fury, and I roared out my final words.

"I HOPE YOU BURN FOR AN ETERNITY IN HELL," I said, "YOU DESERVE NOTHING MORE, YOU FUCKING COWARD." Malefor growled, but then smirked.

"Welcome to the shadows, my beautiful slave" he said, staring at me as he slowly approached.

I felt my mind grow foggy, and then begin to go blank. The last thing I remember was him approach me and him lean in and kiss me.

Then everything went black.

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	20. Chapter 20: Corrupted Dreams

**A/N: HEY! Long time no post. Sorry about the delay, had not only no idea how to continue, but school work, my job search, getting my license, and relationship issues has delayed this.**

**These next few chapters will probably introduce a few other characters from the Spyro world, such as Flame, as well as a few characters from other people. These chapters will be very dark.**

**NOTICE! This chapter and possibly another chapter later on will contain some scenes of same-sex romance, but nothing beyond PG rating (for the romance, that is). Also this chapter and the next few will contain violence. I'm just warning you. **

**Please read and review.**

Chapter 20: Corrupted Dreams

**One week later**

**Ashe's POV**

I groaned slightly and turned in my bed, my overactive mind keeping me awake. I had been resting uneasily for about a week, having both nightmares and dreams about Zeik and Satya. These dreams had been eerily realistic, but the one I had last night was by far the most realistic one yet, almost seeming like it actually was happening. Recalling it sent chills running up and down my spine.

**Flashback**

**Ashe's dream**

It had been a dreary day; with the weather both being chilly and wet, and Satya and I were sitting across from each other, trying to telepathically locate Zeik. She was using her psychic powers and the mental link that Zeik and I shared to try and pinpoint his location on the map of the realm, using some sort of stone that could apparently help in this process.

I at first was totally skeptical of this 'magic' that was being used, but when I could find no other method of locating Zeik, save going out and searching blindly for him, I let her go ahead with it.

_It couldn't hurt, _I thought, _I mean, any sort of hint is beneficial._ So with clasped hands we focused our minds and tried to will the stone to locate his location through my mind. After a brief moment of nothing happening, the stone moved, or so we thought. Turns out it had just tipped over, and we both gave up.

"Well, it was worth a shot," Satya said, disappointed with the results. Groaning in despair and defeat, I flopped down onto the floor. I was reminded that this wasn't the best plan, as my wings, still tender from mending, sent a dull spark of pain through my body.

"Ow," I said out loud, "smooth move, self." Rolling onto my side, I looked out the window at the weather. It was raining harder now, and I saw a few birds dart into the shelter of the trees to escape getting soaked. Satya audibly sighed and silently padded over to the window I was looking out of. It seems that I wasn't the only one who was affected by this failed attempt at locating Zeik.

"Oh Ashe, do you think we'll ever find him?" she downheartedly asked, eyes shining with tears. I felt a pang of jealousy with her obviously depressed state from not finding the object of my desires, but I immediately dismissed it, and looked at her with sympathetic eyes.

"Of course we will," I said, "we just can't seem to do so now." I finished the statement, and realized how un-reassuring it was. I felt a tear escape from my eye and slowly trickle down my cheek. I made no attempt to wipe it away. I just lay there and let my mind give in to the sorrow of losing Zeik.

I buried my face into the crook of my _sii_ and began to sob quietly. No sooner had I started than the slam of a door quieted me. From outside Satya's room came the sound of her mother's voice.

"Satya, Ashe, I'm going out to go get some things at the market," she called out, "I'm taking your little brother as well." Satya's eyes briefly shined and then she walked over to the door and stuck her head out.

"Ok, have fun," she said with a smile. Moments later the sound of the front door closing brought me back to the depression. I once again fell into my paws and began to sob. Satya slowly sighed and approached me.

"Ashe," she began softly, "please don't cry. We'll find him." She quietly lay down next to my left. I began to feel better, and yet…

Something felt strange, not right, off.

Satya gently draped her wing around my torso. Using her wing claws, she caressed the scales around the healing puncture wound on my right side. It soothed me, relaxed me.

Confused me. I shifted uncomfortably under her wing.

"S…Satya…" I began hesitantly, "wasn't my puncture wound on the left side?" I felt her begin to breathe more heavily. Then the stroking stopped.

"No," she countered, "why would you think that?" her response unnerved me slightly, but I took her word for it.

"O…okay, never mind then," I said, now wanting her to continue rubbing the wound. "C…could you rub the wound again?" I asked, blushing a little at the strange request.

"Oh, sure," she mused, "massaging healing skin often speeds up the healing process." I sighed deeply, loving the feeling of the rubbing. Silence then ensued for a long moment. Satya was the one who broke it.

"A…Ashe, do you like me?" she shyly asked. A smile broke across my face.

"Of course, Satya," I calmly stated. "I've always liked you; you've been my best friend ever since I was a little hatchling." At that, the rubbing once again stopped. However, this time it was accompanied by the removal of her wing. I huffed disappointedly, but noticed that she had sat up on her haunches. Intrigued by her behavior, I sat up as well.

"No, I meant…" Satya began hesitantly, noticeably beginning to blush, "do you like me like me?" My eyes widened at her question. I had no idea how to respond to it. I turned my head away from her, blushing ever-so-slightly and averting her gaze.

"I…well…uh…" I stammered, searching for an appropriate response. "I'm not sure... I mean, I've had brief thoughts and slight curiosities," I continued, slowly turning back to face her, but looking at the floor, "but I've never had the chance to try it ou-MMMPH!" I was interrupted by her lips colliding with mine.

I couldn't think straight. I couldn't register anything other than the lips on mine. Without knowing what I was doing, I kissed back. My mind was soaring, my heart pounding, this was exhilarating. It was also so very wrong, but also so right. Nothing could have made this moment bet…

"ASHE?" came a voice from behind me. It was Zeik.

My heart dropped like a stone. I quickly separated from Satya, my cheeks burning red as fire.

"Z-Z-Zeik!" I stumbled out, having completely conflicting feelings. I wasn't sure what was stronger at that moment, the embarrassment of being caught kissing by best friend, or the excitement of seeing my love in front of me. I picked one.

"I'm so glad to see you!" I blurted out, rather loudly. "I thought I had lost you for…"

"WHAT THE HELL IS GOING ON HERE!" he shouted at me and Satya, causing both of us to jump slightly and blush. Obviously he wasn't feeling the same elation I was. I had no idea how to explain this.

"Well, you see…" I began, only to be interrupted.

"I DISSAPPEAR FOR TWO WEEKS, AND I COME BACK TO FIND THIS!" He was furious, I could tell. But I could also see the hurt in his eyes. At this, Satya spoke up.

"Zeik, first off I'm so glad to see you again," she began, "and second, this was my fau…"

"SHUT UP, Satya," he growled at her, "I don't even want to look at you. I remember you, and all the things you did to Ashe, you vile pile of scales." His word were dripping with copious amounts of hatred and disgust, and they cut Satya deeply, causing her to tear up. This caused me to become furious.

"You take that BACK," I shouted, "I can't believe you! How could you treat someone like that?" That statement had a visible effect on him, but I wasn't prepared for his next move.

"SILENCE!" he exploded, stomping the ground and causing two earth pillars to snap up in front of me and Satya, knocking us both back. He then began exuding shadow energy and slowly walking towards me, his face in a look of insane rage. "How could I? How could I? HOW COULD YOU!" he roared out. "ALL I EVER DID WAS TREAT YOU WITH RESPECT AND LOVE, KINDNESS AND FRIENDSHIP, AND NEVER ONCE DID I HURT, NOT EVER, AND _THIS_ IS HOW YOU REPAY ME?" His rage was increasing with each passing moment, both scaring and infuriating me further. Satya was curled up in as tight a ball as she could; hiding in embarrassment and fear.

"All you ever did, huh?" I snapped back. "Everything you ever did was all good and swell, correct? Well, TAKE ANOTHER LOOK! All I ever wanted was a friend who would support me, care for me, protect me, and I did nothing but be nice and a friend to you," I was beginning to lose control of my temper, and there was suddenly a breeze in the room.

"AND SO THIS…THIS…_AFFAIR_, WAS BEING NICE TO ME?" he screamed, the word 'affair' causing me to cringe and then explode.

"NO!" I shouted back, "IT WAS AN ACCIDENT, I NEVER MEANT IT TO GO THAT FAR!"

"AND YET YOU DID, YOU DISLOYAL LIZARD!" he countered. That insult pushed me over the edge; he had crossed the line.

"OKAY, FINE! BE THAT WAY!" I seethed, causing the wind to pick up inside Satya's room. "ON SECOND THOUGHT, YOU KNOW WHAT? _I LIKED IT!_ I HAD PLANNED ON IT HAPPENING! YOU WANNA KNOW WHY? BECAUSE I REALIZED THAT I COULD _NEVER_ BE WITH SOMEONE AS STUPID AND IMMATURE AS YOU!" The wind was howling now, and Zeik's shadow aura was spreading further. To stand his ground in the high winds, Zeik dug his paws into the ground. Satya was pinned in a corner by the high winds, and was completely terrified.

"TRAITOR!" Zeik roared out. "LOUSY WRETCH! WORTHLESS PARASITE!" His rage had reached a peak, and the insults just infuriated me further. However, nothing could have prepared for what he said next.

"I WISH MALEFOR HAD KILLED YOU WHEN HE HAD THE CHANCE!" He sounded as though he meant it. I gasped, and the wind had ceased. The shadow continued to pour from Zeik's body. I heard Satya gasp from behind me.

"ZEIK!" she shouted out in surprise and disappointment. The comment Zeik made had finally settled in. A rift opened inside me, and an impossible amount of rage erupted from deep within me.

"RRRRAAAAAGGGH!" came the guttural, blood-curdling roar from my open maw. An explosion of wind smashed into Zeik, both wrenching him from his footholds and throwing him through the house, completely obliterating everything in front of me. Now outside, the pouring rain quickly soaked Zeik, who now lay in a puddle of mud. The hurricane force winds surrounding my body kept me completely dry. I began to approach him, smashing wind walls down onto him with each step.

"YOU…" I growled, sounding like Malefor himself, "YOU INSUFFERABLE DRAGON!" I hit him with another wall, and then another, and another, emphasizing each insult. "YOU ANNOYING, UNINTELLIGENT, VILE, UNNECESSARY, WASTE OF MY ENTIRE _LIFE!_" I had become unaware of my surroundings, of the rain, of the ground or the sky, of anything other than my rage and the cause of it, Zeik. There was a crater where the walls of wind had slammed into him. "I WISH I HAD NEVER MET YOU! I HOPE YOU DIE ALONE, YOU COLD-BLOODED CREATURE!" With that, I threw him into a tree with a powerful wind shot. I heard the sickly satisfying crunch of his head and spine impacting with the tree, and smirked. "Hope you rot in hell," I maliciously spoke out to the now lifeless form at the base of the tree.

"ASHE!" I heard the horrified cry of Satya come from behind me. I whipped around, eyes wild with fury and rage. And darkness.

"AND YOU!" I roared, having lost total control, "YOU CAUSED ALL OF THIS! IF IT HADN'T BEEN FOR YOU, NONE OF THIS WOULD HAVE HAPPENED! JOIN HIM IN OBLIVION, YOU LIMEY BITCH!" I charged towards her, flailing my bladed tail wildly. I reached her and lashed out with my tail blade. I heard the scream of pain, which was abruptly stopped by the _snik_ of my blade coming in contact with her neck, followed by a wet thump. I laughed manically afterwards, only to be interrupted. A single thunder clap sounded out, startling me.

**End Dream**

"AAAAAUUGH!" I screamed, sitting up abruptly in bed. I was covered in a cold sweat and my heart was pounding at a ridiculous speed. My breath came in gasps, and I was terrified. Another thunder clap sounded, making me scream again. This time, however, my scream was followed by someone calling out my name.

"Ashe!" sounded Satya's voice from the other side of the room, "What is it!" Seeing her, alive, and the room intact comforted me slightly. To solidify that this was reality, I felt my left side, and yelped in pain from the wound.

_Thank ANCESTORS, _I thought to myself, _it was just a nightmare. A really bad one._ Satya crawled out of bed and telepathically grabbed some water from the basin next to her bed. She brought the floating puddle over to my face, whereupon in greedily sucked it down.

"Another bad dream?" she asked, being followed by another thunder clap, producing yet another scream from me. "That's a yes," she said afterwards, "looks like a bad one."

I nodded quickly, and then began to shake uncontrollably. "Very," I whispered, "very bad, I… I'm so scared, Satya." I began to start crying. Satya sighed quietly and yawned.

"Do you want to talk about it?" she asked wearily. I responded by curling up into a ball. "I'll take that as a no." I felt a wing drape over me. I started to cry harder. "Shhh," she cooed, "it was just a dream, nothing more. It's all over now. You're safe now." I continued to cry, and the rain and thunder emphasized my sorrow and internal turmoil. I heard Satya whisper to herself.

"Zeik," she whispered, "wherever you are, Ashe needs your help. Be strong, never give in to the darkness, and survive. The world needs you, now more than ever." She sighed again, and held me tighter, the embrace of her wings comforting me further. Memories of the dream haunted me, making he shiver more.

_Please, Zeik, _I thought in anguish, _I need you. Please be okay._

**End flashback**

I sighed, recalling what had happened last night.

"I hope Zeik has it better off than I do."

**Zeik's POV**

From across the cave, Malefor's voice rang out clearly.

"Sleep, my minion," he said, a hint of kindness in his voice, "you'll need it for what is coming." I obeyed, and I began to fall asleep. Then, I began to feel a presence enter my mind, and I drifted off to a deep sleep, the kind that dreams arise within.

TO BE CONTINUED…

kklk

**PLEASE READ AND REVIEW**


	21. Chapter 21: Corrupted Dreams Part 2

**A/N: This chapter will NOT contain any same-gender relations, just to give everyone a heads up. It will, however, contain some bloody and graphic violence.**

**A/N: PLEASE READ AND REVIEW! I can not improve unless you give me constructive criticism on this story. NO FLAMES! Thank you.**

Chapter 21: Corrupted Dreams Part 2

**Zeik's POV**

I tossed and turned in my slumber, my thoughts plaguing me endlessly. I was in a deep sleep, and yet was totally at unrest. There were thoughts of Ashe, of my long lost friend Satya, of Terrador, and of Malefor, all screening inside my head, mixing and melding together like some twisted nightmare. Then the memory of my corruption entered my mind. As I relived my final moments of freedom and purity, I felt a tingling sensation cascade over my body. It engulfed me completely, but no sooner had it started, it stopped, leaving nothing but my thoughts for me to register.

_What is happening to me?_ I wondered, confused at why I was seeing memories of these traitors and worthless excuses for dragons, save for Malefor. _What kind of trickery is this? I would never be so weak as to have earthly attachment, so why am I experiencing these dreams?_ Seeing no answer or explanation, I focused my mind on trying to purge these thoughts from my head. I could not show any sign of weakness, for I was destined to be Prince of the Realms, at least once Malefor had become King.

After a short while, my struggle with the thoughts had been unsuccessful. I concluded that I had to use my newly acquired shadow powers and encase my mind in shadow to snuff out any weaknesses. As I called upon my new pure element, I began to stir and awaken from my slumber. Once I had focused the shadow, I transferred it to my head.

The moment I did, my mind blanked, and I passed out of thought and mind.

**Zeik's Dream**

I arose from my bed and stretched, trying to wake up and start the morning. I shivered as I did, causing my toes to sink deeply into my bed and split it down the middle. I cursed under my breath as I assessed the damage. I realized that the bed that I had been working on all week to make perfect and comfortable was completely destroyed. Seeing that there was nothing I could do about it, and accepting that the damage was done, I faced the day. I padded over to my balcony, sheathed claws making no sound whatsoever. Emerging into the morning air, I took a deep breath, allowing the cool, damp air into my throat and lungs. The air kissed and massaged every part of my throat and lungs, leaving me refreshed and awake. I gently let the breath go, savoring it as it left my body.

"Ahhhhh," I quietly whispered, trying not to ruin the pristine beauty of the morning. "I love mornings. I wish that the world could stay like this forever." However, the rumbling of my stomach reminded me that this wish could not come true, and that unfortunately something's life had to be ended. It was the circle of life, and nothing could prevent this from happening, because in order for me to live, something had to die. Mustering up what courage I could, I took one last deep breath, closed my eyes, and leapt off the balcony and into the wild.

I held my wings tight against my torso, plummeting towards the ground. I relished in the rush of adrenaline and the wind as I fell towards the ground. At the last possible second, I inhaled and opened my eyes, and my wings immediately followed. As the air filled my wings, a shiver of pleasure ran up my spine, and my decent halted as I began to glide along. The air was rushing beneath my wings, filling them and providing lift. I flapped them and propelled myself along at a breakneck pace, the ground only a few feet beneath me. I reached the edge of the Temple grounds, and flew into the forest, my speed never faltering. As I flew through the forest, I rolled and dodged around the trees that blocked my path, and there were trees that barely registered as they became nothing more than blurs in my peripheral vision. As I flew through the forest, the trees became thicker and thicker, and I dodged more and more of them, keeping my heart pounding and the adrenaline pumping. When I approached a wall of trees that I couldn't dream of dodging, I set my jaw and folded my wings against my sides. I wrapped myself in stone and molded it into a spear. All of this happened within seconds, and as I collided with the tree, my momentum and velocity plowed me through the tree effortlessly. I shed my shell and reopened my wings, flying through the forest until at last I saw the clearing.

I slowed my approach and dove into the ground, burrowing beneath the trees and the clearing. As I did, I closed my eyes, and felt the vibrations of the surroundings. I 'saw' my prey, the sheep above me, and shot up, achieving my goal of gaining my breakfast. As I rocketed up and away with my prize in my claws, the other sheep looked up at me with strange curiosity. They seemed to almost be fascinated by the awesome force that had just snatched up one of the members of their flock. A strange sense of satisfaction filled my mind, and yet…some part of me felt incredibly guilty for taking this beautiful creature's life away. Many different thoughts flooded over me in an instant. What if it had a family? What if they were an important member of the flock? What if it had just recently lost a dear friend? What if another sheep was attached to this one?

I questioned each one, and I finally came to the conclusion that this sheep didn't deserve to die. I turned around and flew back to the clearing. I gently set the sheep down and backed away slowly, bowing low as I exited the clearing, to show that my actions were not out of spite. The flock seemed to understand that I was just doing what I needed to in order to survive. As I vanished into the forest, I couldn't help but feel proud of myself.

_Well, _I sighed to myself, _there goes another day without a proper breakfast. Oh well._ My stomach growled at me again, reminding me that I still needed to eat. I thought for a moment as I walked along on the forest floor, and finally came up with an idea. "I guess I could always go to the herb groves on the North side of the forest," I said aloud, "I've heard that there are a bunch of plants that you can eat there. Besides, it's supposed to be really pretty there." My mind made up, I extended my wings and flapped hard, using an earth pillar to fire me out of the trees and into the air. As I broke through the canopy, a large number of multi-colored birds erupted out of the surrounding canopy, cawing in frustration and anger of being disturbed. I laughed and then apologized for disturbing their rest. I concentrated on what direction I was going, and began to fly off towards the North end of the Great Forest.

As I flew, I felt as though I was being watched by an unseen force. I stopped and looked around, but I saw nobody, and therefore I concluded that it was just my hunger playing games with my mind. I flew slightly faster however, just to be sure. A little while later I reached the Northern edge of the forest, and I saw my destination: a bright green thicket at the edge of a river. I dropped towards it, my hunger fueling my speed, and as I approached, a heavenly aroma filled my nostrils. It was sweet with a slight twinge of dampness to it, and it coated the inside of my nostrils, causing me to sigh deeply. When I touched down in a small clearing within it, my mind was fogged over from all the different herbal scents that bombarded my senses. I looked around, seeing wide green leaves with bright red flowers on the plants, vivid yellow stalks with a golden flower on top, and endless varieties of smaller green plants of various shapes and sizes. Seeing a small game trail, I hazily walked towards it. As I entered the path, the number of colors and shapes I saw increased, along with the intensity of the colors. Apparently the large green leaves hid the vast rainbow of colors underneath their heavy cover. As I padded along, the number of scents and the pungency of them inflated, causing my already foggy mind to become completely numb of anything of value.

When I came to one plant with a particularly vivid green flower on top, I seemed to recall that this herb in particular was one of the best to eat. I tried to think of the name, but as I inhaled, once again the scents slammed into my snout, and any trail of thought was derailed. I approached the herb in a dazed manner and opened my snout to take a bite. Just as I began to close my jaw, an unseen force knocked me to the side…hard. I tumbled and rolled along, not being able to stop myself because of how hazy my mind was, finally landing with a splash in a large stream. The shock of the water cleared up my senses and I was again able to think straight. Confused of where the force came from, I stood up and shouted into the path from where I fell.

"Who's there!" I waited, and there was no response. "Show yourself, or I'll be forced to attack!" I widened my stance, getting into a fighting position. Suddenly a sea-foam green dragon ran out from the path I fell from. It ran into the water and took a defensive stance.

"Wait!" the stranger shouted out in fear, "Don't strike! I meant no harm. You were going to eat an incredibly toxic plant, so I hollered out to you to try and stop you. You didn't respond, so I figured you were under the influence of the herbal scent. So I telekinetically pushed you into the stream, so the water would shock your senses back to normal." As it shouted, its tone got more and more confident, and its stance became less and less rigid. Something about this dragon seemed to cause his insides to twist. As I looked at the dragon more carefully, I noticed a few subtle things. The claws were smaller, the wings had more of a curve to them, and the chest and the tail were rather dainty. Suddenly, it hit me.

"You're a female!" I shouted, a bit louder than I meant to. I relaxed my stance, if only but a little, showing that I was not going to strike. The dragoness scoffed a bit and flicked her tail slightly; a body language that commonly exhibited annoyance.

"Well duh," she said defiantly, "only just a lot. What, did you think I was a male?" I shrunk back a little at that comment, blushing slightly in embarrassment of mistaking a female for a male. I nodded my head a little, telling the truth. The stranger groaned slightly, causing me to blush more. "Well, you got some serious gall in that assumption." She continued, causing me to look at her in an apologetic way. "I mean, do I _look_ like a guy?" she asked, and took a more feminine stance. After a moment of looking I shook my head side to side. "No," she huffed slightly, "well then why did you think I was?" I looked down at my paws, still in the stream, in regret. I heard her sigh audibly. "It's okay," she said softer, "it's in the past." I heard the slosh of water as she walked thought the stream, approaching me cautiously. I looked up at her as she got closer, and I got a better look at her. She was beautiful. Her face was young and vibrant, with bright sapphire eyes and dainty eye ridges. Her scales were a shining sea-foam green color, with fiery red scales on her underside. Just behind her eye ridges was the most beautiful red fringe I've ever seen, which ran from her eye ridges all the way to the tip of her tail. Her slender tail was tipped with a V-shaped fan. She had no horns, but the fringe made up for that. Her snout was thin and short, following the structure of her skull. She was very slender, and yet very curvy, and her wingspan was only slightly smaller than my own. But her most intriguing feature was the strange item that lay tucked behind the small scales between her eye ridges. It was made of what seemed like vines and a small flower, and it emphasized her intoxicating eyes. I had only seen one such pair of beautiful eyes.

"You done staring?" she asked me with a mildly annoyed tone, snapping me out of my trance. I shook my head to clear my thoughts and blushed deeply. I was still entranced by her beauty, but something about her seemed familiar.

_Who _IS_ she? _I thought to myself, now becoming curious. I opened my snout to speak, but she interrupted me.

"Now that we've gotten past the awkward conditions of our meeting," she began, in a much nicer tone, "may I ask you what your name is?" She then flashed a smile, showing me her bright white teeth, but in a non-threatening manner. I smiled back at her, showing my own teeth in a similar manner.

"My name is Ze…" I began, only to be interrupted by a dark presence looming over me. My expression changed to one of serious worry and slight terror.

"I feel it as well," the stranger said, displaying a similar terror in her expression. I immediately went into battle mode, going into an aggressive, but defensive, stance. I splayed my claws, feeling and analyzing the earth beneath me, trying to check its usefulness for attack. It was loose, but it would work. I looked over to the stranger, she was going into a more defensive stance, but she had a fierce look in her eyes. It was almost as if she would do anything to protect this place and all in it from harm. I noticed that the water around her was beginning to act strange, as if something was interrupting its flow. Suddenly, a low rumble rang out around us, and it left an eerie silence in its wake, for all the surrounding sounds were silenced. I could hear my heart beating loudly and my heavy breathing. The silence was deafening.

"Be still," I whispered to the stranger, receiving an ever-so-slight nod of agreement from her. I scanned the area with my eyes, not moving my head, to see the source of the dark presence. "Be very still," I whispered again, this time out of fear. I then felt, rather than heard, a quiet laugh. It caused the scales on the back of my neck to stand up. I began to tremble with anticipation and fear. The seconds passed like hours, the wait both agonizing and terrifying.

_Where is that presence coming from?_ I asked myself, starting to become restless. _It's so POWERFUL, it's almost like…_ My eyes widened in horror as I remembered where I had felt this kind of power before. I began to visibly tremble in fear, my expression now totally horrified. The stranger looked at me and looked worried.

"What is it?" she quietly whispered, her whisper seeming like a scream in the total silence. I let one tear run down my face. My eyes now showed how terrified I was. I then spoke one single name.

"Malefor." A name that struck fear into the hearts of many. My voice trembled as I said the evil name. The stranger's eyes widened in complete horror and she audibly gasped. A low whisper began to come closer to our location. I slowly turned my neck around so I could see behind me. I saw a slight disturbance in the air coming towards us. Fast. Unsure of what it was, I bared my teeth.

The disturbance then reached us, slamming into us at high speeds. The massively powerful wind tossed me and the stranger back about a hundred feet and deposited us into the stream. Disoriented, but alive, I swam towards where I thought the stranger was and went towards it. I needed to save her. I didn't know why, but it just seemed to be the right thing to do. I bumped into something scaled, so I wrapped my tail around it and swam the other way. It didn't budge. A cold shiver of fear shot up and down my body.

_Please no,_ I pleaded to myself, hoping what I had grabbed wasn't what I thought it was. I turned around and looked. I saw a wall of purple-ish black scales. I gulped in fear. My gaze traveled upwards until it reached the head of the dragon. And I practically fainted in terror.

Malefor was back, and he wanted revenge. Suddenly his tail lashed out and collided with my body, a sickening thud sounding as the wind was knocked out of me. I was tossed like a leaf in a strong wind, and landed hard, and with a crack.

"AAAAUUUGGHH!" I cried out in pain as I felt my right _sii_ snap under my weight as I hit the ground. Malefor just laughed at my pain. I shut my eyes, hoping that this was just a terrible nightmare, and that I would wake up any moment. I got my answer when I felt another tail swipe connect with my collapsed body, throwing me again. I summersaulted wildly in the air, unable to determine what direction was up. I opened my wings to try and stabilize my flight, and succeeded…sort of.

My back slammed into the ground, right onto a rock, causing a searing jolt of pain to fire through my entire body. I opened my mouth to scream in pain, but no sound came out. For a brief moment, I feared that I had been paralyzed, but after moving my limbs, that was dismissed. I let out a sigh of relief, which was unfortunately short lived. As I rolled onto my feet, wincing as a sharp pain emanating from my snapped _sii_, I crafted a crude earth brace and hardened it till it was secure to my broken leg. I was sure that it would hold for now. I then immediately set my focus on Malefor. I growled in hatred and anger at the evil presence that was standing defiantly before me. This had no visible effect on the evil dragon, and so I fell into my defensive-aggressive stance and began to shift the earth beneath me. Doing so would both help me absorb most weak blows and allow me to stand my ground without faltering. Still Malefor made no visible signs of changing emotions or even attacking.

_Why is he being so smug? _I thought to myself in aggravation. _I mean, he's always been smug, but this is a new level of smugness. He practically isn't acknowledging my existence. Why?_ I thought these things all while never taking my eyes or focus off of the dragon before me. I analyzed every inch of his being, trying to find some telltale sign of his emotion or some weakness that I could expose. Alone, that was the only way I would have any chance against a dragon as powerful as he was. His chest was moving slowly and evenly, his eyes were calm and…well, evil, but as nice as evil eyes could be. His tail has swaying slowly back and forth. His claws weren't curling and uncurling. His muscles were strong, but relaxed. Nothing about him showed any sign of anything except power and total control. It was almost as if…

"You're waiting for me to make the first move," I growled out to him, "aren't you?" He laughed once in response to my comment. I thought that I had figured him out. My stance hardened into an aggressive one, tensing my muscles until the perfect moment to strike. "Well then, I guess it's my move!" I shouted as I catapulted towards him. I lowered my head and hardened my skull with my earth powers, preparing for the imminent impact. I tensed my neck, awaiting the collision with his evil body. I growled just before we collided, and suddenly he was gone. I lost control of my charge and tumbled head over tail as my momentum carried me much further than I had originally intended. When I stopped tumbling, I lay on the ground, too dizzy to stand up for a moment.

_Why didn't I hit him? _I cursed inwardly as I tried to figure it out. _He was right there! I saw him! We should have collided, but when I had anticipated it, he was gone! It was like he wasn't even there to begin with!_ After I could see straight again, I jumped up and landed in a full on aggressive battle stance, my anger now freely flowing. Small rocks and stones began to float around my body as my face morphed into a fierce snarl. I scanned back and forth, searching for Malefor so I could attack him head on. I heard a rustle of leaves behind me, so I wheeled around, lifted a lump of earth, hardened it, and shot hundreds of needle sharp stone slivers in the direction of the noise.

"DIE YOU BASTARD, DIE!" I shouted as I shot sliver after sliver into the source of the sound. My rage and power were flowing out endlessly into each and every shot. When the stone was exhausted, I walked over to inspect the damage, all the while still seething. A twisted smile wormed its way onto my face as I approached what I thought was a dying Malefor. As I got closer, I analyzed the damage I caused. His body was stuck with hundreds of stone needles, his breathing was ragged and uneven, and his scales were…sea-foam green.

"NOOOO!" I cried as the anger and hate melted away into horror and anguish as I realized that the so-called Malefor was actually the stranger who had saved my life. I rushed to her side as the tears began to flow from my eyes. "No no no no! What have I done?" I sobbed as I tried to take out the needles. She stirred and opened her eyes as I pulled one from her neck. Deep maroon blood poured from the open wound, and it pooled around her body. She opened her mouth and a single tear fell down her face. I leaned in close to hear her speak.

"I…I…" she slowly began, "I know t-t-that your name is Z-z-zeik…." Her breath faltered and she weakly coughed a few times, wincing as the needles tore at her body. Another tear slowly rolled down her cheek, mixing with the blood and disappearing. Meanwhile, tears were continually flowing down my face, blurring my vision and making it hard to see her body. She took another ragged breath.

"H-how do you know that?" I weakly asked between sobs, "I never told you my name." I saw a small, sad smile creep slowly across her bloodied and broken face, causing me to shiver and sob again.

"B-because…."she slowly wheezed, "I remember y-you…f-from when we were young." I was dumbfounded, and it showed on my face, because I didn't remember her from my past. I had never seen her before. I opened my mouth to say something, but I was interrupted by her ragged breathing. She was fading…fast.

"M-m-my name…." she whispered, "is…S-S-Satya. Satya S-Shantam." When she finished, she let out a raspy sigh and shuddered violently once. My eyes opened wide in horror and realization. The dragoness was my long lost friend from the Temple, we were separated when Malefor first attacked, and thought she was dead. A cold shiver ran along my body as it dawned on me that I had finished the job.

"S-S-Satya?" I blubbered out, "Everyone thought you were dead!" I was barely able to form two words without sobbing, and so my speech was less than fluent. A huge smile spread across my face when the fact that I was beside Satya finally set into my brain. However, a dull, numb feeling spread over my entire body when I looked down at her.

She wasn't moving. At all.

"….S-Satya?" I quietly whispered to her. Fear began to rise in my heart when no response sounded. "Satya?" I asked louder and more firmly, still producing no response. My heart began pounding in my throat, making me feel as though I would vomit. I gently nudged her body with my head, coating my skull in her blood. Her body just listed to the left, lifeless.

My heart skipped a beat, two, three, four, five. It felt like my heart had stopped beating entirely, until finally it pounded once, and then skipped another three beats. I began to frantically pull out the stone needles from her body, causing more and more blood to pour from her body and coat my _sii _and _saa_. I tried desperately to stop the bleeding; using my body and wings to apply pressure to the wounds, but blood just kept flowing. My entire underside was covered in her blood, and the scent was nauseating. I kept calling out her name, lightly patting her on the side of her face, to try and wake her up, but she lay there, still and unmoving. I finally tried to feel her pulse.

There was none. She was dead. Because of me, she was dead.

I reeled back, landing on my haunches. My jaw lay open in horror, my face a mask of disbelief and anguish. I was coated from snout to tail in her blood, in varying stages of drying. My entire body felt numb and limp, and I could produce no words from my mouth. I stared at her lifeless body, lying in a pool of her own blood. I took in every detail of the gruesome scene before me, unable to move or look away.

Her wings lay in tatters, hundreds of holes punched through them. Her slender tail was twisted and deformed, scales and entire pieces missing from the barrage of rock, her tail tuft completely severed. Her supple body was riddled with bloody holes, and her sea-foam green scales were muddied by dark maroon blood. Her _sii_ and _saa_ were shredded, and her pearl white claws were completely red with her blood. Her fire-red fringe was matted and darkened with blood, and parts were missing.

I tried to look away and not see any more of her in this state, but my body just refused to respond. What I saw next almost made me heave.

Her neck was kinked and ravaged by the barrage, and the sight was nothing short of nightmarish. There was a deep, 4-inch gash that was on the right side of her throat, severing her neck vein completely. The blood had almost stopped flowing from that wound entirely. Numerous other holes were punched through her neck, one going straight through her trachea. It was a wonder that she was able to speak at all.

When I finally reached her face, I dry heaved, being completely disgusted at the sight.

Her ears were nothing more than flaps of scale and skin, hanging loosely to her skull. Her skull itself was full of pock marks where the stone slivers embedded themselves into her skull, but never punching through. Bits of flesh and scale were missing from her face where the stone cleaved it from the bone. Her entire face was red with her blood. Her eye ridges were torn, the bindi somehow still attached to her scales. Her snout was stripped almost clean of skin, leaving nothing but a bloodied skull with some chunks of flesh barely clinging to it. Her lower jaw hung loosely from her severed joint, and her teeth were broken and bloodstained. She was almost completely unrecognizable, save for her eyes, which still lay open. The once bright and vibrant sapphire eyes now were dull and lifeless, the light completely faded from them. A single tear still clung to her tear duct.

I was finally able to look away, and I saw the pile of bloody stone slivers next to her body. I then looked behind me and saw the damage I had done to the surrounding plant life. Everything was torn and broken in rough and ragged edges. The once lush green plants around this area were now stained and smattered with maroon blood, and a few scales.

Suddenly, I gained control of my body and I wailed to the Ancestors.

"NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!" My cry was filled with anguish. When I stopped wailing, I broke down and sobbed, curling into a ball as the recent event filled my mind. I had killed one of my friends, brutally, and it was entirely my fault. I felt as though I had been punched in the gut, every fiber of my being felt as though it had been corrupted and destroyed. I let the sorrow and emotional pain flood over my body. I felt a dull throbbing in my right _sii_ as I sobbed, reminding me that I had broken it, but I didn't care. I was covered in the drying blood of my deceased friend, but I didn't care. I felt an evil presence spread over my entire body and take hold, but I didn't care. I just didn't care about anything. The only thing that I cared about was that Satya was dead, and it was all my fault. I felt devoid of life or feelings as I lay there, curled into a ball.

"I didn't even recognize her," I quietly whispered between my sobs, "I was going to attack her, and she just wanted to help me. She was so beautiful, and I killed her. I didn't even get to say goodbye." My own ranting made me start crying again, and the crying made the evil presence set deeper into my body. Suddenly I began to feel less sad and depressed, and began to feel angry and aggravated. I was angry at myself for not recognizing her. Angry for not being more aware of my surroundings. Angry for killing her.

I felt the growl begin in my throat, and travel up and into my mouth. It escaped and sounded more like a snarl than just a growl. "What did I do to deserve this!" I asked out loud, expecting a response. When one didn't come, it angered me further. I snapped up into an aggressive stance and bared my teeth. "Answer me!" I snarled, louder than before. Nobody answered. I began to quiver with anger. "I SAID ANSWER ME!" I snarled, still expecting a response. Again, no response came. I had bypassed angry and was now infuriated. I felt the evil presence take control of my body and actions, and I let it. It fueled my anger. I felt the earth begin to quiver beneath me as the ferocity of my anger began to entice my powers. Suddenly, my anger snapped, causing the earth beneath me to split into large fissures, sending large sections of foliage and the river down into the depths of the earth. Satya's body still lay behind me on an unharmed pillar of rock.

"ANSWER ME!" I shouted, small tendrils of darkness emanating from my body. The sight of the tendrils both frightened and angered me. The evil presence was the power of darkness, and I had let myself become corrupted by it. Then, a response to my shout sounded from behind me.

"You did this yourself, and the reason you deserve it is because you were born," came the low voice from behind me. I whipped around, the tendrils spreading further out from my body. I saw the source of the response, and it infuriated me.

"MALEFOR!" I growled to the evil dragon, "Why did you do this?" I quickly glanced at the ground, surveying the area. He was above a large fissure, gently flapping his wings. A malicious laugh rang out across the gap. I snapped my head back to look at him, and saw an evil grin plastered to his face.

"I told you," he mused, "I didn't do anything. It was all you." I growled low at his comment, showing him that it angered me. He simply continued to talk. "Do you not believe me? Well then, let me remind you that it was not I who fired stone after stone at the mysterious noise. It was not I who relentlessly attacked an innocent bystander. It was not I who had a sadistic grin on my face as I attacked. And most importantly, it was not I who killed your long lost friend. No, you see? It was you." He finished, and began laughing satanically. I felt the tears begin to well up in my eyes as I was reminded of what I had done. I looked down at the torn up remains of Satya's body, and then down at my own body, covered in her blood. I then looked at the pile of stone slivers next to her body, and then at the large fissures I had created. I realized that what Malefor was saying was true.

"I…did this," I said in a sullen tone, "but I didn't mean to." I felt the tears begin to fall again. "It…it was an accident. I…" I began, only to be interrupted by Malefor's laugh.

"HAHAHA! An 'accident,' you say?" He laughed, "Nothing about the way you viciously attacked her was an accident." His voice just was more and more amused as each moment passed; all while I felt something deep inside myself begin to build. "An accident is hitting somebody with a large rock by mistake. An accident is swiping someone you didn't intend to with your tail. Those are accidents." Malefor laughed again, and the thing building inside me grew. "Impaling someone with hundreds upon hundreds of stone slivers, all while sadistically smiling? That is no accident. Killing your friend is no accident. Causing an entire area to be suddenly filled with fissures of your own creation is not an accident." His tone was now full of evil enjoyment, and I began to become angry. "No, what happened here is all intentional. You intentionally caused the fissures. You intentionally filled an unknown source with stone needles." I was now on the brink of exploding in anger, my claws digging into the stone beneath me and I looked at Satya's body. Still, Malefor continued to spew information, unaware of what it was doing to me. "No, none of those were accidents. You did all those things with full knowledge of what you were doing. And you most definitely knew that you were killing your friend. Oh yes, you killed her, and you meant to kill her. And you did so willingly. You slaughtered your dear Satya, like the cattle she was."

That was all I needed to hear.

Suddenly, the thing that was growing inside me broke free from my body. I opened my maw, to scream at Malefor. But what came out was a roar. This was not an average roar, however. This roar was one that loud and terrifying. Primal. Like the roars of the Ancients, and it rang out clear as day. It shook the air around me, and caused even Malefor to shirk away. He paled slightly at the display of raw power. I continued to roar for a moment, and then shot forward at Malefor, teeth and claws bared, and tendrils of darkness trailing behind me. My eyes were wild and angry, and another terrifying roar sounded from my mouth. I collided with Malefor at lightning fast speed, sending both me and him sailing over the fissures. We landed on solid ground, right next to a massive fissure, and I pinned the monstrous dragon beneath me. I clamped my back claws down on his abdomen and locked my front ones onto his shoulders.

"YOU PATHETIC WORM!" I snarled at him, my voice full of pure malice and hate. "HOW DARE YOU SAY THAT I KILLED HER INTENTIONALLY? NOTHING WOULD HAVE MADE ME KILL HER ON PURPOSE!" I was absolutely infuriated, and no longer had control of my body. "THE ONLY REASON SHE'S DEAD IS BECAUSE OF YOU! IF YOU HADN'T SHOWN UP, SHE WOULD STILL BE ALIVE! WHAT DO YOU SAY TO THAT?" I rolled us over and threw him down into the ground, a sickening snap sounding as his spine collided with the ground. "I'M SURE YOU CAN'T DENY THAT TO BE THE TRUTH! YOUR PRESENCE HERE IS NO ACCIDENT, BUT THE TURNOUT WAS VERY DIFFERENT, WASN'T IT?" I grabbed a rock, compressed it into a deadly wedge, and slammed it down on his wing, severing it from his body. He roared in pain, but was still paralyzed with fear from the primal roars. I threw the rock into the fissure and returned to his side. "I WILL KILL YOU FOR WHAT YOU HAVE DONE HERE! YOU MAY NOT HAVE KILLED SATYA, BUT YOU ARE THE REASON SHE IS DEAD! I WILL MAKE YOU SUFFER THE SAME FATE AS HER!" The darkness had now completely engulfed me, causing my scales to darken to black and deep red markings to appear over my body. I lifted up a chunk of earth and hardened it into a solid rock. I then made it hover over Malefor's body.

I walked right next to his face, and leaned in close to his ears. I then spoke to him quietly. "I hope you lived a good life, because I'm about to avenge my friend. Using the same technique that killed her." I saw fear flash into his face, and a sadistic smile arched across mine. "Now, burn in hell, Malefor." With that, I split the rock into thousands of slivers, and fired them at his body, starting at the tail and finally moving up to the skull. These slivers pierced straight through his scales and his bone, driving into the ground. A constant roar of pain came from his dying body, until at last the slivers reached his head, and then all was silent.

His body was destroyed, completely torn apart by the vicious attack, and the blood sprayed everywhere. When the final sliver was embedded into his body, I casually tossed his body into the fissure. I then tossed Satya's body into the fissure, saying goodbye one last time. Then, I looked to the sky and released another primal roar, this time much louder and more corrupted.

I fired molten rock from the bottom of the fissures into the sky, and split the earth as far as the eye could see, sending the forest and all its creatures into the fissures. I then exploded out raw power in the form of darkness, filling the sky with black clouds and lightning. I stopped the primal roar, and looked to the South. Towards the Temple. My eyes were full of evil.

"Look out, world," I chuckled, "There's a new Dark Master in town. And his name is Zeik." With that, I shot towards the temple.

**End Zeik's Dream**

I woke up panting and in a cold sweat, trembling in fear. I looked around, seeing that I was still in Malefor's cave, and I let go a sigh of relief.

"It was just a dream," I whispered aloud, sensing Malefor's presence nearby. I then looked down at my _sii_ and saw that my scales had turned black, and that there were fire-red markings all over my body.

**zlka**


End file.
